The Darkened Child
by Ozymandeos
Summary: I never asked for any of this... but it was forced on me anyway. Here's the story of me making the most of the tragedies that influenced my entire life.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I hit a mental block on some of my other writing, so I've decided just to hash this out. It'll most likely end up as a one-shot, but if I get some positive reviews or PM's asking to continue it I might.**

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"Rizalia, wake up…" I tried to shut my ears to the voice. It was my birthday, after all, so why wouldn't Mother just let me sleep? But even burying my face into one of my luxuriously soft pillows didn't block out her attempts to rouse me. After a few more failed tries, she just rolled me over. I squinted up at the sunlight streaming through my window, before muttering a few words that sent one of my pillows flying at her.

It stopped in mid-air at a look from Mother, before floating back to the head of my bed. I finally gave up on falling back asleep. I sat up and stretched under the stern gaze of my mother, yawning as I did so. When I was as awake as I was going to get, I swung my legs off the bed.

"Young lady, you should know better than that! Have you learned nothing from what your father and I have taught you?" She tapped her foot on the floor while waiting for an answer. It had been like this for the past nine years… I'd do something the easy way, she'd notice and make me correct myself. "If you're going to use magic, use it right. Don't use the cheap spoken shortcuts like those human weaklings."

So I threw the pillow at her again, but this time I manually built up the pathway of the magic in my head, instead of letting the words do it themselves. It was the Telvanni way after all. Without speaking the words, it was nearly impossible for your enemy to anticipate what spell you were going to use. Sure, it took a lot more concentration and you could easily be messed up in the preparation, but the Telvanni sternly advocated that it was better this way.

Mother sent the pillow flying back to its previous position, but she wasn't mad. Her stern glare faded back into her usual affectionate gaze as she helped me get my tangled mess of hair into its usual style. After all, as Mother always said, a Telvanni lady had to look like the noble she was.

While I forced myself into one of the dresses that I had received for my last birthday, she urged me to hurry up. I deliberately went slower than usual, until she mentioned that if I didn't hurry I would miss my birthday breakfast. After that I rushed through getting ready before I happily followed her out into the rest of the house.

The dining room was a few floors down, and my favorite part of each morning was gliding down and playing in the air in the shaft to get there. Mother and Father disapproved of these antics, of course, but they never told me to stop. They accepted that a young Telvanni needed some fun , and it was hard to get that with days full of tutoring in many subjects.

I was hoping that after breakfast there'd be a trip outside. I was never allowed outside… not even to practice my destruction spells. That policy for my parents hadn't ended too well… but they still kept it up. When I thought of the fires I'd started in the training room I couldn't help but giggle. With a gifted little mage like me running around, it was a wonder that Tel Venora hadn't burned down yet.

The food here was always delicious, the Telvanni deserved the best of everything after all, but my parents always had the cooks whip up something special for my birthdays. This time it turned out to be some obscure fruit from Valenwood, which I ate more of than could possibly be healthy. They were sweeter than anything I'd had before, and I'd eaten all of the ones in front of me before I even touched the assortment of my favorite foods that made up the rest of breakfast.

"Time for us to get your gifts, don't you think Honey?" Father asked after he finished chuckling about my behavior. What, did they expect me NOT to be actually bouncing around the room when they had made me wait while they finished breakfast?

"Do you even have to ask? Of course I think it's time!"

"Well then young lady, if you're so eager, why don't you tell us where we put them?"Father grinned as I rushed over to him. Instead of hugging me, he picked me up like he hadn't since I was too young to walk well.

"On the balcony that overlooks the town?" That was where we usually did it. The only time I didn't remember it being there my parents had decided to take me along with them to Port Telvannis a year before Red Mountain's eruption.

"Spot on darling! You're as bright as you are talented." And with that we set off through the shafts and hallways to get to the balcony's door. Father was still carrying me, and it felt good not to have to do anything to move.

Every door that led outside, whether it was to a balcony or something else, had been enchanted specifically to keep me in. I hadn't been able to figure out how to dispel the enchantments yet, so I could only leave when one of them let me out. My parents had never specifically said it, but I had always assumed that those same runes surrounding the doors could be set to kill intruders.

When we got outside, Father let me stand on my own again. I looked around, savoring the sights that I usually only saw through my bedroom window. The air out here was always so much fresher, even if it was usually laden with ash and dust. Surprisingly, the sky was clear today. No clouds, normal or ash, to spoil my birthday outing. The town below was just waking up, the craftsmen and farmers coming out of their little mushroom-pod houses and setting up their workplaces under the burning heat of the sun.

My attention was drawn away from the scene down below when Mother walked over and pulled two things out from under a cushion on one of the benches. I actually squealed in delight as I ran over to her.

"Well Rizalia, we only have two gifts for you this year, but we know you'll love them. One's from your father, and the other is from me. Are you ready for them?"

"Yes! I'm ready!" I kept jumping up to try and see what they were, but she was holding them just so that I couldn't. When Father came over, she handed one of the objects to him but it shimmered and twisted so much that I couldn't tell what it was.

After the two of them shared a smile, he knelt down and held out what I could now see was a thick old book. It's cover was some kind of cracked old leather, with Daedric runes that were so faded that I couldn't read the title. It took me only a few seconds to realize what it was; a tome of old magic, spells that had long been forgotten. I'd heard of these, my parents had mentioned how some wizard-lord or another had found or lost one a few times, but I'd never seen one. They were incredibly rare, not even the Imperial Archives had one, and there had never been one in Tel Venora's library.

"This is a family heirloom. It's been passed down in my family for thousands of years, and each owner has added their own spells to its pages. Magic that everyone else has long since forgotten, and others which have never been seen outside of our family. Now it's yours." I carefully took the book, hugging it's significant weight to my chest. I had never expected a gift this valuable, or this important.

I sat down, keeping the book on my lap, while Mother knelt to give me her gift. It shimmered into appearance in her hands as she held it out toward me. She must have been hiding it with her illusions. Her gift seemed to be a dagger, nearly as long as my forearm, and made of a glittering black metal. Ebony maybe? Intricate designs were etched across the blade, and purple gems were embedded in the hilt.

"This isn't really a family heirloom, but I think you'll like it. I made this back when I was your age, and its enchantment is one-of-a-kind. I call it 'Zantirus', meaning 'Killing Shadow' in the old Chimeran tongue. It's served me well over the centuries, but now I think it's time to pass it to you. After all, no Telvanni lady's outfit is complete without a dagger."

I carefully took the dagger, hilt-first of course, into my hands and turned it over. The patterns on the blade, black on black, reminded me of something I couldn't quite place. Maybe something from a dream? But it felt natural in my hand, the grip soft and comfortable. I'd never been trained with a knife, but now that Mother had given me this I knew she'd teach me how to use it.

"What's the enchantment on it? I can tell that it's there, but not what it is." The haze of magicka surrounding it was a silvery shimmer shot through with crimson strands. Nothing like any of the enchanted objects I'd seen before.

"You wouldn't be able to, I duel-enchanted it with two of my own formulas. It hides itself with illusion from others, but never from you, until you take it into your hand, after which it will still shimmer and distract your enemy. The other enchantment only takes effect when you draw blood, making even the smallest cut feel like a burning brand being driven into their skin. It is not to be used lightly, and I honestly hope that you'll never need to use it at all."

We stayed out on the balcony for another few hours, casually talking amongst ourselves as I looked through some of the spells in the book. The writing was old, but I could read it with a little effort. The first spell was in the destruction school, a touch-based fire spell. I learned how to construct the magicka for it, and that it would boil the blood of whoever I used it on. I tried it out on the wooden floor of the balcony, burning a small black handprint into the living plant that was our tower. Like always, Mother put it out with a burst of frost before it could spread.

Then, as I started reading into another spell, my parents' conversation fell silent at the same time as I heard what sounded like the pounding of drums in the distance. I got up and walked to the edge of the balcony, my young eyes barely making out the figures marching in from the horizon.

"Honey, get inside and stay in your room. Don't come out until one of us comes to get you." Mother's voice was nearly panicked as her eyes kept darting back to the distant figures. If whatever was happening had two of the greatest Telvanni wizards worried, it was better not to ask questions in my opinion. So I ran back to my room like she had told me to.

Harried voices shouted orders outside, the noise barely reaching me, as the squad of paid mercenaries organized themselves and the town outside for something. Portals flashed constantly as my parents summoned more and more Daedra. The glowing runes around my doorway changed from blue to red, confirming my guess that they could be lethal too. At least, the way that a fly dropped to the ground smoking when it tried to go through seemed to say it was lethal.

With each passing minute the drums got closer, and so did the marching figures. After an hour they were near enough for me to tell that they were Argonians, like the slaves in the town. But these weren't the half-naked, scarred and dispirited beings I'd seen. Oh no, these were fierce and angry, covered in war-paint and armed for battle.

I hid under my bed after seeing them coming, crying in fear as I heard screams coming from outside, and as dark clouds of smoke started billowing up into the sky. Eventually the screams got quieter, less frequent, until they'd nearly stopped altogether. Then they started again, closer now. Sounding like they were inside the tower. Dark smoke started billowing up the shaft closest to my room, and echoing booms like from fireballs exploding came up it.

I screamed as I saw a figure come flying up through the smoke at the same time as the runes around my door sparked and winked out of existence. The scream died out as I saw that it was my mother, her dress torn in several places and smoldering in a few others. She was bleeding from several large cuts on her arms and a smaller one above her eye, but she was my mother, and she was alive.

I ran to her and buried my face in her dress, choking sobs wracking my body as I cried into her dress. She let me stay like that for a few seconds, before she pushed me away and knelt down so her face was nearly level with mine.

"Honey, I know this is scary, but you've got to be strong. You CAN'T forget what I'm about to tell you, understand?" Her voice was rushed, and she kept looking behind her at the shaft, which now had more noises coming up it.

"Ye… yes. I understand."

"Good. Keep this safe." She quickly reached up and took a necklace I'd never seen before from around her neck. It's chain shimmered silver, and the pendant on it was a black rose with red gems inset into it that seemed almost like drops of blood. Mother hung it around my neck before continuing.

"Don't lose the necklace. It will keep you safe." She paused and grunted in pain. "You must get out of here. Keep the family name alive. Stay away from the other Telvanni. They won't hesitate to kill you and claim our lands. Use the book, hone your skills, and when you're one hundred return and claim your birthright. All the proof you'll need is in my family's ancestral tomb on Solstheim. It was there long before the Nords claimed the island, and will have everything you could need to convince the others that you are our heir. Be…"

Whatever she was going to say next, I'll never know. Because at that moment, her body tensed as a spray of blood came out of her mouth and splattered onto my face. I screamed as I saw an arrow protruding from her chest; then her body fell over backwards.

I kept screaming as I saw two Argonians standing at the edge of the shaft, one with dark green scales holding a bow, and the other with pallid grayish scales and frosty magicka dripping from his fingers. The gray one's eyes were dark red, and just looking at them made me scream harder.

"Oh shit…" The green one began, looking sick. "Did I just do what I think I did?"

"If you mean killing that Telvanni bitch in front of her daughter, then yes." The red-eyed one answered. "Good job there, now finish the kid off. We've got to clear out the rest of the tower."

"No. She's barely more than a hatchling, I'm not going to have a child's blood on my hands!"

"If we let her live, she'll end up just like her witch of a mother."

While they argued, I struggled to get a fireball ready, forming the structure of magicka in my mind and keeping it ready to unleash at a moment's notice.

"Kill her if you have to, but I'll have no part in this. Killing children is stooping to their level, and I won't go that far just for revenge." The green scaled Argonian turned to go back down the shaft, and he was just a few steps from it when the other one acted.

"Nothing personal then…" His voice changed, becoming more sibilant and almost like a hiss. "But I need to feed. And children's blood is oh-so sweet." Before the other Argonian could react, the red-eyed one had drawn his sword and stabbed him in the back. The sword glowed red with parasitic magic, and the Argonian died with barely a scream.

The stress and pressure of the situation became too much for me. It broke my concentration, causing the fireball to explode when I tried to form it. The shockwave from it backfiring threw me and everything near me backwards. I crashed into the bed and slumped to the ground, my vision blurry as something wet trickled down through my hair.

My vision was still blurry as slow footsteps approached. I couldn't focus at all, and couldn't see the dagger that Mother had given me. I was defenseless as the murderous Argonian stalked closer and closer to me. I didn't even have the energy to scream as I felt his arms slide under me and lift me off the ground as he knelt next to me.

That changed when I felt two spots of sharp, searing pain in my neck. My vision cleared almost instantly as I screamed out in pain, jolting around and dislodging the fangs that were sunk in my neck. I saw Zantirus lying half-buried under the covers which had blown off my bed. I barely managed to break the Argonian's grip as I lunged for the black dagger. I gripped it tightly with both hands and spun around just as the frustrated lizard-man leapt at me.

I was still screaming, with tears dribbling down my cheeks, as his momentum carried his body onto the dagger. His eyes widened in surprise and fear as the blade sank into his chest, but they dulled and went lifeless as the blade sank deeper into what I assumed was his heart. I shoved his body into the wall with a spell before struggling up onto my unsteady legs.

I don't know how long I stood there crying over my Mother's broken body, but when I heard what sounded like more people coming up the shaft outside I started moving fast. I didn't have any kind of plan aside from just getting out of there was fast as I could.

I grabbed the book, wiped my dagger off on the dead Argonian's armor, and then shattered the window with another spell.

As I levitated out the window, the old chapter of my life ended and a new one began.

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**Author's Note: So, what do you guys think? Should I continue it? (Note: Now Edited and officially being continued.)**


	2. Chapter One

"Hey Kid, wake up." I jolted upright at the sound of a male voice, my hand going instinctively to where I had Zantirus concealed under my ragged and filthy dress. I relaxed when I realized that it was just the soldier I was riding with talking, and that my dream had been just that: a dream. I'd been having them more and more lately; it used to be only once every few months, but now it happens nearly twice a week.

"Ugh… we're here?" I easily slipped into the scared little girl act that I was using this time. It still amazed me how easy it was to trick people into trusting what seemed to be a helpless little girl. The scared act worked best, but over the nearly two centuries since the day my life was ruined I had refined several different acts that I could use on different kinds of people.

"Yes. We're at Helgen. We won't be here long before we set off back to Solitude." The Imperial soldier whose cart I was riding on turned to me and smiled. So unsuspecting… if we weren't in public, I would've ripped his throat out then and there to feast on his crimson lifeblood. But that was too risky… and even my need for a meal wasn't enough for me to risk my un-life in a town filled with soldiers. Even with how far my skills had come in my years training with the old book, I wasn't that strong.

If I'd known the man was part of General Tullius's personal guard instead of an isolated patrol like I had assumed, I never would have let him see me. So now I was stuck with them as they traveled back to their headquarters in Solitude. I didn't dare try to sneak out of their guarded camps at night, or to try to feed on any of the sleeping soldiers. Each day I went without blood the effects of my vampirism became more apparent. If I went much longer they might notice… they would have already if I wasn't a Dunmer.

I sat up, with a real yawn, and looked around. I'd been curled up on the seat of one of the carriages that they'd been transporting Stormcloak prisoners in. I wasn't sure, but one of them looked a lot like Ulfric.

As the soldier helped me down from the cart, a feat I could easily have managed on my own, I noticed that said prisoners were being lined up near an executioner's block. All but two were wearing the Stormcloak's telltale armor, while the other two were stuck in ragged clothes that weren't in much better shape than mine.

The soldier who I'd been riding with, Rodmire I think he'd said his name was, ushered me past them and into what I assumed was the town's keep. I suppressed a grin of excitement as I realized we were alone. The soldier turned his back to me for some reason or another and I prepared for the kill.

"Those bad men are going to be executed, aren't they?" I asked in my sweetest little girl voice. The smile that crossed my face next showed off my fangs.

"Yes child, they…" The soldier turned around and stopped mid-sentence when he saw my fangs.

"I suppose you should have put me with them." My grin widened as I spoke. I overpowered him with my eyes, paralyzing him with a fear not dissimilar to how a bird freezes before a snake strikes. "If you had, you might have lived longer." And with that I leapt at him.

He didn't even have time to scream as my fangs sank into his neck. I wasn't going for finesse this time, so instead of sinking my fangs delicately into one of the blood vessels I just ripped out his entire throat. The warm, salty blood flowed freely into my mouth, running down my chin and dripping onto my ragged dress. I gulped greedily, feeling some of the vampiric powers I'd received recede. But it was worth it to have the incessant hunger satisfied… for now.

I drank my fill from the warm corpse on the floor. Once I was done I wiped the blood from my chin, before I riffled through the dead man's pockets and took the small coin purse he had. There weren't many Septims in it, but any amount would come in handy.

As I started to stand, the entire keep shook. A tremendous roar filtered in from outside as dust drifted down from the ceiling. I fell back onto my knees as the tower shook again. While it kept shaking, screams and echoing booms filtered in from outside. I didn't trust myself to stand until the tower stopped shaking. Right as I decided that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon and started to stand, the doors burst open.

One of the raggedly dressed prisoners stumbled in, his clothes scorched in several places, closely followed by another Imperial soldier. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach; this scene had to look bad. After all, a Dunmer with fangs kneeling over a dead soldier with his throat ripped out. That screamed that I was a vampire more than anything else.

The man's hands were still bound, but the soldier was completely free. His reflexes were impressive; I'd barely moved out of the way when his sword cleaved the air where my head had been. I threw him against the wall with a quick spell before leaping through the door at the back of the room. With the tower shaking like it was going to fall down and some massive roaring creature outside, I didn't have time to finish those two. I just had to find another way out, and fast.

Whenever I came to locked doors or grates, which would have needed a key or something and would have stopped most soldiers, I blew them down with a supercharged brand of fireball that I'd learned in the book. Each time I used it my reserves of magicka dropped lower and lower. By the time I finally found a way out, I barely had enough magicka left for the baser combat spells.

The roaring and screams had stopped, so I took a risk and let my curiosity get the better of me. I levitated up to the top of the keep. Sure, I knew levitation was illegal outside of Morrowind, but I'd killed more people than I could count over the years since that damned Argonian had turned me, so what did it matter to break a little law like that?

When I got to the top of the tower, even I struggled not to throw up. The only buildings left standing were the stone towers, and everything else was part of a massive firestorm. Whatever had attacked the town must have been obscenely powerful to cause this. The devastation itself was oddly similar to how Tel Venora had looked when the Argonians burnt it to the ground, right down to the scorched bodies of men, women, and even children laying on the ground below.

If I'd been a superstitious type, I would have said that this was an omen for the start of another new chapter in my life. But I wasn't, so I just jumped off the wall and slowed my fall just before I hit the ground. It was time to move on again, with nothing but a few Septims, the book wedged up against my stomach, and the dagger in its hiding spot.

Several days later I was walking along on a road outside of Whiterun, the city itself just visible in the distance nearly a day's travel for me, trudging along and begrudging myself for not accepting a ride into the city from a Khajiit caravan. But I'd just fed on an unsuspecting farmer, so I hadn't thought it would be necessary. That had been four days ago, and I hadn't seen hide nor hair of anything living since.

My blood-thirst was still bearable, I'd gone as long as a month without any before I'd cracked and killed someone in the middle of a town to get it, but it wasn't at all pleasant to have the incessant thirst in the back of my mind. I could bear it, but only just.

The grass-covered ground on the edge of the road gave way to a plowed field, and I realized that I might have a chance to feed soon. Just as the scorching sun began to set, the rash and burning it caused fading, I saw a flour mill come into view. I bared my teeth in a ferocious smile as I broke from my walk and into a weary jog.

After a few minutes of jogging, a house came into view as well as what seemed to be a broken down cart. One of the wheels was completely shattered, lying in splintered pieces on the ground nearby, as the hitched horse up ahead of it pranced around nervously. The wagon itself was burdened only by one large container… strangely, the container drew my eye more than the oddly-dressed man standing next to it and talking to himself.

It almost seemed to suck in the light from all around it… but a simple crate couldn't do that. So, even as my necklace grew strangely warm, I turned my attention to the man. I slowed to a walk as I got closer, not really out of breath as I didn't actually have to breathe anymore, while I stared at the man. He didn't seem to notice me as he continued to talk to himself, occasionally kicking one of the intact wheels. As I got closer I recognized that he was dressed as a jester, decked out in black and red.

Aside from the talking to himself, there was something else about him that seemed weird. I couldn't quite place what it was… I just knew that he wasn't a vampire, and therefore was almost definitely a threat. Even among the few other vampires I'd met over the years, few had been at all friendly.

He didn't notice me until I spoke. "Mister, can you help me?" I was all sweet little girl again.

"Can poor, poor Cicero help you? The Fool of Hearts wishes he could, little Child of the Night, but poor, sweet Cicero cannot even help himself." I took a step back in surprise as the man knelt down, apparently referring to himself in third person, gasping when I realized that he'd easily pegged me as a vampire. "For Cicero's wheel has broken. The nasty old man refuses to help, and now this poor fool is stranded with no way to move his sweet mother! If the Night-Child is after blood, take him and his wife's!"

Okay… I was nearly sure that he was crazy now. But he didn't try to attack me even though he knew I was a vampire.

"You know I'm a vampire and you're not scared?"

"Oh no, Cicero has known his share of vampires over the years. This poor fool has even called several vampires his brothers and sisters! Cicero is as much a creature of night and shadow as you, even if the Night Children's blood doesn't run in his veins." I wasn't going to ask about his past if he didn't ask about mine, but he sounded interesting, if crazy.

"And the man up there refuses to help you fix the wheel on your wagon, which has your dead mother on it?"

"Yeeeess!" He dragged out the word as he jumped up and pulled at the small bits of hair coming out from under his hat. "Mother's tomb was pillaged, and now Cicero can't take her to a new sanctuary where she can rest in peace!"

"So, you need your wheel fixed and I want to feed. I think I have a plan that can get us both what we need. If you want to hear it, that is."

"Oooohhh, a plan! Cicero would looooovvveee to hear it! This fool would be eternally grateful if the Night-Child would help him!" He did a disturbing little dance while clapping his hands.

So I outlined my plan to him, and then we put it into action. Cicero gave me an old cloak he had laying around in the wagon. It hid the bloodstains on my ragged dress, and it was actually pretty warm. I might be a vampire, and immune to most discomforts that affected mortals, but I still didn't like Skyrim's cold. It also helped with the story I'd come up with. After all, it was extremely unlikely that a child would be travelling alone in Skyrim without some kind of protection from the elements.

I walked up the small hill to the farmer's house, exaggerating a slight limp in my left leg that I'd had for over fifty years, ever since a boulder had fallen on my leg when I came into Skyrim and I hadn't been able to heal the break properly. As I trudged up the path, I silently cast a few illusions to make me look weaker and harmless. More like what people expected from children.

When I got close enough, I saw a small lamp sitting on a table next to the man who must be the one who'd refused to help Cicero. A small dagger glinted in his hand, raised and dangerous until he saw that I was just a kid. I noticed, however, that he didn't put it down. Skyrim was a harsh place after all, and it paid to be cautious. Nobody knew that better than the Nords, though this man obviously wasn't one of them.

"What do you want kid?" He actually didn't seem all that mean… sure, his voice was gruff, but it wasn't near as bad as most of the stereotypical racists populating Skyrim. But that might be because he's an Imperial rather than a Nord. He probably turned Cicero away because, well, the jester seemed to be completely insane.

"Uncle Cicero says that you won't fix our wagon… why won't you? You don't seem like a mean man to me… so why won't you help us?" I could see his eyes soften as I used my most innocent voice, still favoring my right side.

"That odd man's your uncle? Why weren't you with him when he got here earlier?"

"He is odd, isn't he?" I paused and let out a childish giggle. "But he's the only family I have left. I was sleeping in the wagon when the wheel broke, and I only just woke up."

"I'm sorry little girl, but I can't help you. I don't want to get involved in anything illegal, and I don't trust what your uncle might have in that wagon."

"Please, it's just Grandmommy's body. Her tomb was pillaged, and Uncle Cicero is taking her to the old family catacombs. He promised to drop me off at the Temple of Kynareth on the way." I pleaded with him, sticking to the story I'd made up.

"Why's he going to drop you off there? Are you studying to be a healer?"

"No, it's for my leg." I took a few steps to show the limp in my right leg. "It got smashed a few years ago, and our healer did a bad job fixing it. It's been hurting me ever since, and he hopes that the priests there can fix it."

I could tell that my story had nearly convinced him to help just out of pity for my leg. He stayed silent for a few moments, until I gave the last few words that he needed to push him over the edge. "We can pay if we have to. We don't have much, but we'd be willing to give you what we were going to donate to the temple if you'll fix the wheel. "

He set the dagger down next to the lamp and stood up. He opened the door to his house and waved me inside. "You've convinced me. I'll fix the wheel for you two, free of charge. If your uncle had mentioned this earlier in the day, you'd have been at the Temple by now. It'll take a lot longer to get it fixed now that it's dark, but it should be done in a few hours. You stay in here until then."

He walked over to where an Altmer, I assumed she was his wife, was sleeping. "Curwe, honey, wake up." He gently shook her awake. "This girl will be waiting in here while I fix the man outside's wagon."

The Altmer mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'Ok' before drifting off back to sleep. I sat down in a hand-carved chair next to their banked fire. It was a lot warmer in here than outside… even though fire and sunlight were some of my main weaknesses, I still preferred being near one just for warmth. I mean, what are the odds that I'll end up catching fire just by being near one?

I kept the illusions going, better safe than sorry, even after he was gone. Once he'd been gone a few minutes, and I was reasonably sure he wasn't coming back, I slowly stood up. I padded over to the bed on silent, bare feet, I really need to get some shoes for when winter comes again, and made sure the Altmer was still asleep. It would not do for her to wake up in the middle of my feeding.

I'd decided back when I made the plan that I wouldn't kill her. I'd take just enough blood to sate my thirst for a day or two, and then heal the bite and make sure she wouldn't contract the disease. I'd never really liked the taste of elven blood, but I could stand it when I had to. I knelt delicately on the floor, glad that the bed was just the right height for me to reach her neck like this, and set my fangs right over her jugular.

I pressed down until they punctured the skin and sank into the large vein. I sucked gently, barely restraining myself from draining her completely as the pleasurable rush of energy that came from the blood flowed over me. Once the blood-thirst had receded far enough to be manageable for a few more days, I stopped. When my fangs drew out, two spots of blood started welling up from her neck. I licked these off, and then waved a hand over her neck as a soft golden glow fell from it. The holes closed, and any traces of my disease vanished from her blood. I'd never been a master of healing magic, it hadn't been very high on the list of things my parents needed to teach me, but I knew the basics for healing myself and others.

My plan had worked nearly perfectly. At least until the farmer, who introduced himself as Vantus Loreius, fixed the wheel and brought Cicero up as well. He woke up his wife, who was predictably feeling a bit light-headed, and told her the story we'd given him. Apparently it was close enough to the time he usually took his wagon and produce into town that he'd see us to Whiterun safely. Curwe decided to come to.

They implored us to stay for the night and leave in the morning, with them. I couldn't think of a way to say no, and neither could Cicero apparently. We were stuck there for most of the night, talking to them and fabricating details about what had brought us here. It took a lot of effort and glances at him, but we managed to keep from contradicting each other. We didn't get a chance to talk in private about how to get out of this situation… so it seemed we would be stuck going along with it.

Over the course of the night, I learned a lot about Cicero just from the way he acted and spoke. He might refer to himself in third person a lot, might dance oddly and talk to himself, but he wasn't insane. To me, it seemed like the insanity was just an act, that underneath he was just as cold and calculating as I was. To really understand him though, I'd need to know more.

After what seemed like forever, morning came. For the first time in a century I actually looked forward to the sun rising. The couple had Cicero and me walk down to his wagon while they got their own ready. My magicka wasn't really drained, even after keeping the illusions going all night, but I was tired.

"Cicero thinks we should just kill them and go. They might notice the Night-Child's true nature if we stay longer." The jester confirmed my suspicion that he might be a killer with that sentence. I shrank into the shadows of my cloak, glad to have some cover from the scorching sun, before replying.

"No… not yet anyway. The plan was for you to drop me off in Whiterun anyway. This'll just set us back an hour or so. Surely your mother can wait that long."

"Yes…. Mother has waited this long to get back to her loyal children. She shouldn't mind the delay." Cicero's odd references to this 'Mother' made me wonder if it wasn't merely a dead body in the container. Something about a mother and children rang a bell in my memory, but I couldn't quite place it. As I climbed up onto the wagon and curled up next to Cicero, my necklace grew to be nearly uncomfortably warm. It wasn't the clean, crisp warmth of a fire. It was like the dank, burning warmth of blood fresh from the body.

I fell asleep shortly after the wagon's started moving, and woke up when we got to Whiterun. Cicero, still pretending to be a caring, if odd, uncle, made the farmers agree to take me to Kynareth's temple before turning his wagon around and saying goodbye. Apparently he was anxious to get his mother to that sanctuary he had mentioned.

I rode on the couple's wagon until they got to the market, after which Vantus started to unload and sell his produce. I limped alongside Curwe for the rest of the way to the temple. After she explained what I'd told her, an acolyte walked me into one of the healing rooms and sat me on a stone bed.

Thankfully, nobody had questioned why I'd had a cloak and hood on in broad daylight. But it was only a matter of time until someone here realized I was a vampire…

And if I wasn't gone by then, I was going to die.

**Author's Note: So, here's the second chapter! Everyone's favorite fool has now come into the story!**

**Also, a note here. I do edit some things in the lore and world. Like I'm making the world larger, and much more populated. Like each city has several thousand people, and there are tons of small villages across the land. On foot, I'm saying it takes about two months to cross all of Skyrim from one end to another, and by a horse just three weeks.**

**(Now Edited)**


	3. Chapter Two

I watched the square of sunlight coming in from the one small window move across the floor as the day went on. The healing room, which had five stone benches in it, had been empty when I came in. Now three other people occupied it along with me. One man had a massive weeping sore on the left side of his face, another had a badly broken arm. The other was an old woman coughing up blood.

As the day went on, priests and priestesses came in and weaved their healing magics over the others. They didn't get to me, though they did give me food and water which I ate even though they did exactly nothing for me, because my leg wasn't as important as people with actual wounds. I'd never admit it to anyone, but the same wound that caused my slight limp did hurt me at times. As much as I'd like to see if they could fix it, my survival was more important. They'd know I was a vampire long before they fixed the leg.

So, once the moon was up and everyone in this room was asleep, I slipped off the stone bench and snuck over to the door. The innocent illusions had worn off when I'd fallen asleep, so my Magicka reserves were nearly full. On my bare feet, I could move extremely quietly. As good as I was at moving unseen, I decided to use one of my stronger invisibility spells.

I slipped silently through the door, shutting it behind me, and started retracing path I'd come in through. I must have taken a wrong turn while I was thinking about what I'd do next, because instead of ending up outside I was in a room full of sleeping acolytes. I turned to go, but just as I walked through the door I bumped into someone coming the other way.

My invisibility vanished as I bounced back and fell on the floor, my concentration shattering. I scrabbled backwards as I struggled to pull Zantirus out from its hidden sheathe. Once the familiar, comfortable weight of Mother's dagger was in my hand, I stood up and prepared a spell to kill whoever it was. I couldn't afford to be caught now, not so close to getting out of the temple and into Whiterun's many alleys and hiding places.

The spell I had been preparing fizzed out of existence, the gathered magicka from my palm dispersing back into my body, as I found myself staring into the eyes of what seemed to be a small Breton girl, just a small bit taller than me. Even in the nearly non-existent light, I could make out the telltale red eyes that marked her as a vampire. Aside from the eyes, the only visible indicator that she wasn't just a harmless little girl was the elven dagger dripping poison that was held out to match mine.

After a few seconds stalemate in which neither of us spoke, just sizing up the other, she voiced both of our thoughts.

"Well, isn't this unexpected." Her voice sounded just as innocent as mine usually did.

I'd honestly never expected to find someone else who'd been turned as a child, especially not at knifepoint. Which of course made me wonder; what was she doing here? If she was going to feed, it would be better to do it on the sick and wounded people. They wouldn't even notice that they'd been fed on once the healing spells purged their blood of the disease and closed the holes.

"What, aren't you going to greet a fellow Night-Spawn? Or does the sabercat have your tongue?" She joked when I stayed silent with my eyes locked on her. I was debating in my head whether or not I should just kill her and leave, or if we could talk.

"Look, I didn't see you, you didn't see me. End of story. Just let me go past and I'll get back to my own business."

"Aw c'mon, can't you talk for a minute? I haven't seen another vampire in over ten years, and I've never met someone else who was turned at such a young age."

"Oh alright… I can't say I'm not curious about how you were turned."

"I know a safe place we can talk. I'll take you there once I finish the business that brought me here." She flashed me a quick smile as I sheathed Zantirus. I still wasn't sure about this… but I was curious.

I watched curiously, wondering what the business she'd mentioned was, as she walked down the row of sleeping acolytes. She stopped at one, looked at his face as if to make sure who he was, and then calmly stabbed him.

"And now we run." She left the knife lodged in his chest and ran for the door as he started screaming, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me along behind her. I stumbled along a few steps before I managed to match her pace. She seemed to know the way to the exit, so I was content just to follow her as screams and shouts of alarm echoed from behind us.

We knocked over a sleepy priest who tried to stop us from getting out the doors, before dashing through a series of alleys. After a few minutes of following a trail that she obviously knew by heart, the other vampire pulled me sideways into what I'd assumed was a falling down building. Then we went down a trapdoor hidden under a rug in the corner, which she shut to encase us in total darkness.

Of course, with both of us being vampires, not having light wasn't a problem. I could still see her just fine. For a second it seemed like she was panting, but that couldn't be. Vampires didn't have to breath, so why did she act like she was panting? Then I realized she was laughing.

"What was that about?" I frowned at her as I leaned back against the wall, ready for anything she might try. She hadn't attacked me so far, but I'd learned to be cautious. "If you just wanted to kill that guy, you could have drained him in his sleep, or at least slit his throat quietly. And why did you leave your knife?"

"Just killing him wasn't the contract. I was supposed to stab him with the knife, leave it there as a calling card, and let him die slowly and painfully from the poison. So that's what I did." Well… certainly hadn't expected her to be an assassin. "Besides, wasn't the running fun?"

"I guess… but do you have a death-wish? Stabbing someone in the middle of a city is just asking to get caught, especially when you're kind of hard to miss. There aren't that many Breton children in Whiterun, or Dunmer children for that matter. We'll both have a hard time getting out of the city now."

"There's a tunnel here that leads outside the city. It's how I always come and go." She shrugged off my criticisms. "Why were you in there anyway? A healing temple is a dangerous place for our kind."

"A plan of mine went a little bit further than I'd intended. I helped an odd jester, pretty sure he was a murderer, get the wheel on his cart fixed by acting like his niece. Played off a slight limp I've had for half a century to get pity help… but did it a bit too well. They insisted on getting us here… and me into the temple." I shrugged. "Fed last night, or I would've actually been glad to be there because it's so easy to feed off the wounded. So… you're an assassin?"

"Yeah. Have been for the last two centuries, with the Dark Brotherhood. Gives plenty of chances to feed, and I get paid to kill. Sure, any guard would kill me if they knew, but the same applies to my vampirism. So I get plenty of chances to feed, and enough gold to buy even the rarest ingredients of my potions and poisons. So, what's been going on in the world of vampires?"

"I have no idea. I'm not part of any clan; I've been a wanderer for the past two centuries, never staying in any one town for more than a year. So… you're an alchemist?"

"When I'm not killing people, yeah. I've gotten pretty good at it after three centuries of practice. Mainly make poisons, but I can make other potions too. So… how'd you get turned, and when?"

"About two hundred years ago. Wasn't very long after the Red Year. The Argonians invaded, and they attacked my parent's town. A pair of soldiers killed my mother right in front of me, before one turned on the other and killed him. That soldier, who I only realized was a vampire after the disease had run its course, tried to feed on me. He'd only just gotten his fangs into me when I killed him. Been wandering around and practicing my spells since then."

"I'm sorry that that happened to you. I wasn't turned willingly, but I was already an orphan when one vampire tried to kill me, and another killed him and saved my life, which I didn't ask for, by turning me. I stayed with him for a century or so, before we split away on civil terms and I joined the Brotherhood. As far as I know he's still in Cyrodiil."

An awkward silence stretched for a few minutes after that. I finally broke it with a question I'd been meaning to ask for awhile.

"So… you're with the Dark Brotherhood? They still exist?" I thought they'd died out a few years ago, when news went out all over the Empire that their sanctuaries were being weeded out and destroyed.

"We're going through some hard times, but we're still alive and killing." She got a sly, fox-like glint in her eyes as she looked at me. "Say… we're always looking for new members. You've killed before, right?"

I think I know where this is going… but I answered with a joke anyway.

"What, you think an innocent little girl like me has killed before?" I giggled at the end of the sentence. "Of course I have! More people than I can count. Some were just to feed, others because they had it coming to them, and still others just because I was in a bad mood or wanted to try out a new spell."

"You sounded just like Festus there for a moment… kind of disturbing." She chuckled darkly.

"Who's Festus?"

"Oh, just an old wizard at the sanctuary. Hearing something that usually comes from an old man from the mouth of a little girl, even though you're older than him by fifty years, is a bit odd… even to me. Anyway, how would you feel about joining the family?"

"Well… I don't know. It would be better than wandering around Skyrim and Morrowind like I have been, but would the other assassins accept me? I mean, I don't really look that threatening."

"Neither do I, but I've been in the Brotherhood longer than any of them have been alive. Festus isn't that threatening either… but personality and power count more than appearances. After all, some of the burliest Nord men I've seen have curled up and died like kittens, while a barely five-foot tall Bosmer fought like a cornered sabercat."

"Personality… not really sure how much I have. Been alone for most of the past two centuries, so not that good with people unless it's an act to get them to lower their guards and let me feed. As for power…" I paused and looked around for a target. A rusty old lantern in the corner of the small chamber looked like it should do. The candles on the table around it would make what I was about to do even more impressive.

A simple chain-lightning spell, though slightly modified, flicked out of my hand and hit the lantern's casing. Tongues of electricity jumped off from it, igniting every candle, and by the time me and the other vampire's eyes had cleared from the initial flash the sparks had vanished.

"Impressive. So, will you come with me back to the Sanctuary? I don't have the authority to induct you myself, but Astrid should let you in."

"Fine. We'll see how this goes. Lead the way." I stood up, blowing the candles out with a burst of frigid air, and stretched. I wasn't prepared for what she did however.

I got a brief glimpse, between blinks, of her moving before she practically tackled me. We toppled over backwards, rolling along the floor for a ways, as my hand automatically scrabbled for Zantirus. Then I realized she was hugging me.

When we came to a stop, she was on top of me. Her hair hung down into my face as her knee dug painfully into my stomach and her arms were wrapped around my chest.

"Errr… sorry about that. It's been a long time since I've talked to another vampire. You're the first person in a century who can understand what I've been through, and still go through every day." She smiled shyly, a childish glint in her eye, as she got up off me and offered a hand to help me up. I took it, feeling her cool fingers that were so much like mine, as she tugged me upright. One of the things I missed from before being a vampire was having a warm body. Just about everything else was the same, or close enough to how it had been, for me.

I followed her through a narrow dirt tunnel; it was just tall enough for us to stand but an adult would have to crawl or bend to get through. We were walking down it for nearly half an hour before she finally kicked open a door at the end of it, which let us out on the side of a grassy knoll a mile or so from the city.

"Wait… did we forget to introduce ourselves?" I felt like smacking myself when she said that. I knew I'd been forgetting something…

"Um… I think so. I'm Rizalia… would rather not give my last name until I know you better." I left out the 'or until I decide to claim my birthright' part.

"Babette."

We stood there a for a few minutes, during which Babette kept letting out an annoying whistle several times. I recognized it as a horse-call though, so I didn't say anything about it. Eventually, a small dun-colored pony trotted into view. A saddlebag, emblazoned with a black handprint, hung from the saddle. Into this bag Babette tucked a bulging coin purse.

"Well, what now?" I asked as she swung up into the saddle.

"Now…" She offered a hand to me, which I took with a bit of reluctance. I'd never ridden a horse before… and I can't say I'm eager to try. She pulled me up behind her. The saddle dug into my butt in several uncomfortable places. "we ride."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there's the second chapter. I keep feeling like I forgot something… but not sure what. (Not Yet Edited)**

**P.S. There's a poll concerning this story up on my profile that will stay open until the chapter before I need to make the decision it revolves around.**


	4. Chapter Three

"Ugh… my butt hurts." I groaned as Babette finally said we were at the Sanctuary. In my hurry to get off the horse, which I absolutely hated, I ended up falling right onto said body part. There was one more bruise to add to the impressive collection that I was sure covered my backside after two days, or rather nights, of riding. I'd never get why Vampires still bruised and bled, got hurt and healed, if we were supposed to be undead. I glared at the other child-vampire as she swung down from the saddle with a practiced ease I knew I'd never get.

"Sorry about that. You've told me you hated the horse about ten times just today, but it's better than walking for a week to get back. The saddle was made just for me… so it's no surprise that you're uncomfortable."

I groaned again as Babette led us off the cobbled path, leading the horse along behind us down a steep, rocky, overgrown trail. The road was way out of sight by the time I saw our destination. Anyone that didn't know the trail was there, and where it went, would have been hopelessly lost by now. Which would have been a better fate than if they found a Sanctuary full of assassins and walked in uninvited.

After another minute or two of walking, we came down onto a fairly level clearing surrounded on three sides by rocky walls and overhangs. A bubbling pool of black water covered the center of the area, with well-worn paths going around its edges to a stone door decorated with carvings of skulls. One of the larger, more centrally located skulls bore what seemed to be a bloody handprint on it.

Instead of leading me straight to the door, Babette first took the horse into what had to be their stable. It was a cave that had obviously been enlarged several times, with stalls for nearly two dozen horses inside, lit by some flickering lamps and one gap that went up through the rock. Only six of the stalls had horses in them, seven once Babette put hers back. The other stalls seemed like they hadn't been used for some time.

"You remember the plan?" She asked before I could walk back outside.

"Of course I do. Stay quiet and don't talk to, or touch, anything or anyone until you've spoken to Astrid and she speaks to me." Babette nodded as I replied with the plan we'd settled on, and then we walked out and to the stone door.

My hands flew up to my head as a deep, rumbling voice seemed to speak directly into my mind. A throbbing headache started up behind my eyes as the question it had asked registered with me.

_"What is the music of life?"_

"Silence, my Brother." Babette replied to it. "Remember that, or you'll be stuck out here for awhile. And don't worry, it always gives you a headache at first. You will get used to it."

_"Welcome Home."_ And with that the door swung open and Babette ushered me through into the dimly lit corridor beyond. A flickering torch was set in a sconce on a landing down a short flight of stairs, after which they turned and went down further underground.

I shivered, even I couldn't tell whether it was from fear or anticipation, as I walked into the dank, cool air of the Sanctuary. For the first time in a century, I was nervous about what people would think of me. Babette seemed to notice somehow, and she reassuringly took my hand. I jumped when she did so, but relaxed after a second as she led me down into the Sanctuary proper.

At the bottom of the stairs, we came out into a better lit room with several shelves and quite a few random objects scattered around it. One corner had a chair, almost a throne really, and a large table with a map of Skyrim spread out onto it. Aside from the way we'd come in through, an open stairwell led down on one side of the table and a closed door was on the other.

A noise that sounded like water falling came from the stairwell, and muffled grunts and moans came from behind the closed door. Since this was an assassin's den, I first assumed that someone was being tortured. Boy was I wrong, as Babette soon proved.

"Astrid, get out here!" The noises stopped as Babette shouted and banged on the door.

"Uh… I'm kinda tied up at the moment. Can't it wait?" Came the muffled reply from the other side of the door. Babette looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"No it can't wait. Your rutting, however, can. So get that werewolf to untie you, throw on some clothes, and get out here!" I blushed as I realized what I'd heard. My parents had never gotten the chance to explain sex to me, but I'd learned about it by myself over the years. Some from sneaking into houses at night, and the rest about it from various books. Why would any girl let someone stick something inside them, especially something as dirty as a boy's… ugh, I couldn't even think about that.

After a few minutes and a bunch of muffled thuds and curses from the other side of the door, it swung open and a red-faced Nord whose blond hair was matted to her forehead with sweat stepped out. She wore but a wrinkled, hastily thrown-on dress, and she looked angry. Not really furious, but nearly there.

"What is it Babette? This better be important." She crossed her arms and glared at the vampire next to me, and then she jolted a little when she realized I was here.

"First off, here's the Brotherhood's cut from my contract." She tossed the woman, who I assumed was Astrid, a coin purse. "Second, I think Rizalia here would be a good addition to the Family."

Astrid caught the purse and tucked it into one of the dress's pockets. Then she walked over and looked me up and down appraisingly.

"I'm guessing you're a vampire like our Babette?"

"No, I'm just an innocent little girl that your meanie vampire snatched from Whiterun." I put on my innocent little girl face and made my voice sound like I was about to break into tears. When she raised an eyebrow at me, I grinned at showed my fangs. "An innocent little girl who just happens to have been trained by two of the greatest wizards of the third age, and had the misfortune of being turned two hundred years ago."

"Another wizard, eh? Festus will be happy. Or at least… not as cranky as usual. You've killed before, I take it?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. We'll get you a contract in the next few days. Until then, get to know the rest of our Family. Babette, show her around and introduce her to everyone. You're responsible for her until she finishes her first contract." Astrid gave me a smile. "Welcome to the Family."

"Now, if you two girls will excuse me, I have some business to finish." With that Astrid turned and walked back into the room she'd come from.

"Try not to break the bed again!" Babette called out after her retreating back. As soon as the door closed, she broke out laughing.

"Well, you just met Astrid. She's the leader of our little family here, and as a result of all that's left of the Dark Brotherhood. She's way into bondage and things like that, but she really does love her husband Arnbjorn. Right now they're rutting like two awkward teens who just got into puberty… so you probably won't meet him for a few hours."

Babette apparently didn't notice how I blushed every time she mentioned sex... she must have actually learned about it from her parents. Or maybe she was just comfortable with stuff like that that I wasn't. She led me down the other stairwell and into a massive room. Well… it wasn't really a room; it was more of a cave with a few man-made additions and doors. Gritty dust and dirt covered most of the floor, while other parts had stone flooring. The grit faded to sand around a medium-sized pool of water, which was fed by a small waterfall that was making the sound I'd noticed earlier. An ornate stained-glass window sat above it.

An odd, curved wall covered in runes I couldn't read stood in one corner, between two exits. Another cave-tunnel went off on the other side of the pool of water. One part of the room, close to us, had a smoldering forge in it, and along the wall from there was a small area set up with archery targets and practice dummies. An Argonian in black-and-red leather armor, it seemed to be nearly skin-tight, was practicing with his sword on one of the dummies. As we watched, he slashed open what would have been its stomach, before spinning around and impaling it.

"Hey Veezara, get over here! We've got a new sister!" Babette called out. The Argonian sheathed his sword and walked over. I'd gotten over my fear of Argonians in the two centuries since they'd killed my parents and burned the town, but I still wasn't very comfortable with them. Sure, my parent's probably did deserve what they'd gotten, they were Telvanni wizard-lords who supported and used slavery after all, but not all of the townsfolk had deserved to be murdered like they had been. The children definitely hadn't, but they'd been slaughtered all the same.

"Greetings, Sisters." He nodded at Babette and me, crossing his arms and watching as I unconsciously stepped behind the other vampire.

"Veezara, this is Rizalia." She pulled me forward and prodded me in the side. I muttered a quiet 'hi' before she continued. "Rizalia, this is Veezara, the last of the order of the Shadowscales. A better swordsman you'd be hard-pressed to find, or a more loyal ally.

"A little shy, isn't she Babette? She looks like a hatchling still, so I'm assuming she's another Night-Spawn?" I wasn't sure, but I think the face he put on was kind of bemused.

"Sor… sorry." I muttered through gritted teeth as Babette started to say something. "I'm still not really comfortable around Argonians. I was turned, against my will, during your people's invasion of Morrowind… that should tell you all you need to know about my unease."

"Ah…" He visibly winced. "Not our best time… letting out thousands of years of anger does tend to get ugly, even when well-meaning people are in charge. So, how did Babette find you?"

"We ran into each other on her last contract." I stopped and started giggling. Babette joined in too after a second, while Veezara just stared at us, confused.

"What's so funny?"

"Because we didn't just meet each other; we really did run into each other. I was running out a door just as she came in and we both fell. After she killed one of the priests, we ended up talking and she roped me into coming here."

"Well, good luck on your trial contract once Astrid arranges it. Farewell." With that, he sat down and started to seemingly meditate.

The introduction with the Redguard Nazir went similarly to that one, and she showed me around the sanctuary before introducing me to the last few members. Aside from Astrid and Arnbjorn, she was the only assassin with their own room. The others just slept in a common area above the dining hall. According to Babette, there used to be a lot more rooms until most of the sanctuary collapsed half a century ago and they'd decided it wasn't worth the effort to dig it back out.

Next she introduced me to Gabriella, a fellow Dunmer.

"Ah, there you are Sister. How'd your contract go?" She asked when Babette came into the room where she was sitting reading a book. Then she noticed me and added on, "And who would this little one be?"

"Not very interesting, as some of them go. The client wanted the monk to die slowly and painfully, each healing spell killing him a little faster as the magicka reacted to a special poison she whipped up. Only really fun part was the target's face as he woke up with a knife sticking out of his chest. As for the girl, I think I'll let her introduce herself." Babette stepped to the side so I could go up to Gabriella.

Before speaking, I looked her up and down. She was tall for a Dunmer, and even in her loose robes she seemed… voluptuous. I blushed as I came to the logical conclusion of how she did most of her contracts. She didn't seem to be a vampire, unfortunately enough, and I couldn't tell which of the Great Houses she was from, if any.

"I'm Rizalia. As you might have guessed, I'm a vampire like Babette. Aside from that, all I'm fine with saying right now is that I'm gifted with magic." I paused for a few seconds to figure out how to word the next part. "So… are you from Morrowind?"

"No, Solstheim. I'm technically in House Telvanni, but my master gave me this new life if I swore I'd never return."

"So am I. From House Telvanni, I mean. My parents were two of the greatest wizard-lords in the Third Age, but they died in the Argonian Invasion. Maybe we can talk later; we might have known some of the same people when we were in the house."

"Perhaps. Right now I'm feeling a bit peckish… I wonder if Nazir has any more of that venison…" Gabriella wandered off back to the dining hall after that.

"You're a Telvanni? No wonder you're skilled with magic… or that the Argonians murdered your parents." She fell silent after seeing me visibly wince at her mention of my parents. I was still sensitive about how Mother had been killed right in front of me, even after all these years.

"Festus, I've got someone I think you'd like to meet." Babette tugged on the old man's robe, even though he was busy at the enchanting table. I could just barely see what he was working on… and it was enough to make me take a few steps back.

"Babette, I'd stop interrupting him if I were you. That fire enchantment he's working on is decidedly unstable, and if he loses concentration it could blow up." I pushed a few books on the table back to make room for me to sit on it. I hopped up onto it so I could watch the old wizard work. Enchantment had always been an interest of mine, partly because my Mother had been a master at it, but I hadn't had a chance to enchant anything since Tel Venora had been razed.

"Well Babette, whoever it is you brought in, I like her already!" Festus, shot back at her while chuckling. Unfortunately, that was just enough of a lapse in focus to de-stabilize the enchantment. I yanked Festus and Babette both back with a spell, throwing up a ward that protected all three of us. After a second, the enchantment completely backfired, sending up a billowing ball of fire that added to the scorch marks on the ceiling. a wave of the blast bounced off the ward, and what little didn't harmlessly hit a wall knocked over some books and other items on the shelves around the room.

A string of very creative curses came out of the old wizard's mouth as I dispelled my ward and he walked back to the enchanting table. The dagger he'd been trying to enchant was just a heap of molten slag now.

"Well… looks like Nazir's not getting the dagger he asked for." He cooled the lump of molten metal with a burst of frost and then swept it off the table. "So, I assume this little Dunmer is who you wanted me to meet?"

"Yes, she is. Festus, meet Rizalia. I think you two will get along just fine, as she's a mage too. Now I'm going to let you two get acquainted while I go take a bath… I smell awful." I'd noticed the stench while we were travelling, but it was just as likely to have been me as it was her.

"So, you favor magic, do you?"

"Favor it? I was born and raised on magic, taught for the first nine years of my life by two of the greatest Telvanni wizard-lords of the third age. And for the last two centuries I've been studying the same spells that generations of my family have written and mastered."

"Hmmm… always heard that the Telvanni were some of the greatest wizards in Tamriel. Care to show me some of that legendary magic?"

"Maybe later. Babette wanted to get back here quickly, so I'm tired and sore from the riding." I sniffed at my arm, and wrinkled my nose when the scent hit me. "And I need a bath… I smell like death."

"That's you? I thought it was that rabbit we gave Lis last week."

"Lis?" Babette hadn't mentioned anyone in the sanctuary by that name…

"Gabriella's pet frostbite spider. I swear, that thing eats more than Arnbjorn does, and that's saying something." Ah, a pet frostbite spider. that definitely explained all the scuttling sounds and webs in the corner of the room.

I retraced my steps back to the bathing cavern Babette had shown me. The makeshift door that plugged the opening was closed, rather predictably, and it nearly fell over when I knocked.

"Whoever it is, go away! I'm busy in here!" Babette's muffled voice echoed out through the door.

"It's me, Rizalia! You're not the only one that stinks, I need a bath too after all!" I shouted back.

"Fine. Give me a few minutes and I'll be out."

I leaned back against the wall and made a circle of small pebbles spin in the air in front of me as a way to pass the time. After what seemed like forever, the door swung open and Babette stepped out. Her wet hair was plastered against the back of her neck, and she grinned at me.

"Feels good to be clean again after a contract." She yawned, and looked me up and down. "We probably need to get you some new clothes as well… go in and wash. I think we're close enough in size for one of my dresses to fit you… I'll bring one down in a few minutes." With that she walked off.

I walked in and shut the door behind me. I blew out the lantern hanging in the door, no use wasting a candle when I didn't need it after all, and walked over to one of the shallow pools of water that the Brotherhood used for bathing.

I peeled off my filthy dress, carefully folding it to set Zantirus and my book sage, and then dipped a toe into the water. I yelped and jumped back; it's damned cold! I knelt on the ground next to it and put one hand into the pool. Then I used a spell written by one of my more… disturbed ancestors.

It had actually been written as a way to boil houseguests alive, but I'd found a few other uses for it over the years. For example, I'd used it to catch fish to sell before, and like I was doing now I used it to heat water for bathing.

After all, what was the point of knowing magic if you didn't use it for completely selfish reasons and for your own comfort?

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what do you guys think so far? In all honesty, I don't think this is one of my best chapters, but that's up to you all to decide. Just as a reminder, the poll is still up. **

**(Not Yet Edited. A note on my editing schedule: Some chapters will be posted un-edited and later replaced with an edited version, some will be posted edited, and others will never be edited. It all depends on my inspiration and mood at the time I finish the chapter.)**


	5. Chapter Four

"You've been here two days already, and you haven't shown me a demonstration of your Telvanni magic yet… I'm starting to think you don't have any." Festus snorted as he walked into the room and interrupted a discussion between me and Babette about which race's blood tasted better. She was firmly into saying that Bosmer blood tasted best on account of its slightly fruity taste, while I argued that Imperial blood was best because it tasted like fine, spiced wine.

"You want to see it so bad, come out into the main room. I'll give you a taste of what a Telvanni can do." I shot back as I stood up. I'd been thinking all of yesterday about how to show him it… and after Babette had confirmed that there wasn't anything important in the pool in the main room, my plan was set.

Babette and Gabriella followed, curious to see what I was going to do, Festus and me into the main room. Nazir came in from the kitchen at the same time, but for other reasons. Veezara was meditating, like usual, and Arnbjorn was doing something over by the forge. They both looked up as I started my demonstration. Everyone except Astrid was present, but she was currently in Falkreath fulfilling a contract and searching for rumors about one for me.

It took a lot of focus, and a lot more magicka than the spell usually took, but I started by lifting up all the water in the pool under the waterfall. That alone was an impressive feat, as was my swinging it into the middle of the room and forming it into a perfect sphere. Then, keeping one arm angled out to suspend it, I used the other to flash-freeze it with a blast of frost.

Then I threw a lance of fire through it. I started spinning it around, going faster and faster with each rotation, until it was just a blur. With my free hand, I started launching more and more bursts of fire through it. When I stopped the spinning, I was left with a sphere of ice riddled with holes and with a small open area in the middle. of it. The melt-water from the fire had been flung around the room as the thing spun, ending up with most of us having water spattered all over us.

I sent a ball of light through one of the holes, stopping it in the middle, and then brought more water over from the small waterfall to seal all of the holes. I was left with a solid ball of ice, almost a dozen feet thick, that glowed with an inner light. I wasn't done yet though, and brought a thick tongue of water over from the falls and froze it into a pillar of ice hanging down from the ceiling that supported the ball.

And with that, I was done. I released my concentration on the spells, and the glowing magicka faded from my hands. The glowing ice, however, remained in the air above the room.

I didn't show it, but I'd broken out sweating from the immense effort this had taken, and my large reserves of Magicka were nearly drained. I had enough left for a myriad of destruction spells, and others besides, but it would take days for it to regenerate to full capacity.

"And that, my dear wizard, is but a small example of what a Telvanni can do." I took a bow as everyone, even Arnbjorn, applauded me. Festus looked positively flabbergasted as he stared at me, his mouth actually hanging open.

"Hah, seems like our newest recruit puts you to shame Festus." Nazir patted me on the shoulder as the others went back to what they'd been doing before. "You can get rid of this, right?" He whispered afterwards.

"Mhmm, but I like it there. If Astrid asks, I'll get rid of it. Otherwise, it can stay up there indefinitely as long as it gets doused in magicka every few days." Was my reply. It did look good up there, after all, and it suffused the room with a pale light that didn't flicker like that from torches.

"Alright then." He nodded and chuckled. "You still haven't done your first contract, but you already feel like a full part of the family. I usually don't get attached to new recruits, seeing how most die on their first few contracts, but you seem like a survivor."

With that Nazir walked off, starting up a conversation with Babette on some new minor contracts he had. Festus came over and had the reaction I predicted from a human mage.

"Ho… how? You didn't speak the words, didn't summon and guide the magicka for the spells." I just grinned at him.

"It's the Telvanni way. We don't deign to use cheap spoken shortcuts like other orders. We channel the magicka in our minds, hiding our intentions until we're ready to strike." I smirked and went over to watch as the pool of water filled back up.

I was like that for the better part of an hour before I heard the main door open and close. Astrid must've finally gotten back; she'd left yesterday and Falkreath was only six hours away on horseback. I turned and greeted her as she came down into the cavern. The front of her armor was caked in dried blood, but it wasn't hers. So at least her contract had gone well. She took one look at the ice and turned to me.

"Do I even want to know what that thing is?"

"Just a result of me showing Festus what I can do." I grinned innocently. "So how'd your contract go?"

"Well enough I suppose. The guy didn't even try to fight, and instead tried to bribe me like a coward. They never realize that we'll just take their gold when we kill them." She smirked and shook her head at the stupidity of most of our targets. "But don't think being polite will get you off the hook for whatever this thing is. If it falls, you'll be paying for whatever it breaks."

"I'll bet you one hundred Septims that it won't fall for a week, even if I don't re-freeze it during that time." I was so sure that it wouldn't fall that I made that bet without even having the money for it. "So, did you find someone for me to kill?"

"I'll take that bet." She smirked, confident that she'd be winning it. "And I did find you a contract. A werewolf by the name of Jacob Larethi. He's currently at the Brynhalder inn along the road to Falkreath. It's about three hours away, going toward the town. Leave when you're ready, and don't come back until he's dead. Oh yes, and tell Babette she's to go with you for this contract."

With that Astrid walked off and started talking to Arnbjorn. I got up, stretched, and went off to find Babette. When she wasn't with Gabriella and Festus in the room with Lis's enclosure, I went up to her room. Sure enough, she was there on the slab of stone that served as her bed reading a book.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you." She looked up and put a bookmark in as I stepped inside the room. The small heap of straw covered by an old blanket that was currently serving as my bed really looked out of place… but so did a lot of the things in the room. Potions and poisons were everywhere, along with a ton of empty bottles with brownish residue in them.

"Astrid found me a contract. She says you're supposed to come with me on it." I snuck a look into the little corner in which I had hidden my book. Thankfully, it was still there, completely undisturbed.

"Ah, alright. Give me a second." She stood up and yawned. Then she started looking through the drawers in her dresser, glass rattling inside them as she shoved them closed. "How far away is the contract? Will we have time to feed during it?"

"About three hours down the road to Falkreath, according to Astrid. Contract's a werewolf at the Brynhalder inn, and I personally hate werewolf blood, but there are bound to be other people we can feed from there. If nothing else we'll find a traveler or two." I answered. It was going to be a short trip, hopefully, so all we grabbed were our daggers.

A thought hit me right as we went out the main door.

"We're going to have to take the horse, aren't we?"

"Yep." Babette grinned at me.

"Ah shit."

* * *

"That was even worse than the last time." I complained as we swung off the horse in front of the stable. Babette just grinned as she whispered a few words into the horse's ear before it moved off to crop at the grass.

"You'll get used to it, eventually. Now let's find your target and get out of here."

A man was standing outside the door, probably a bouncer of some kind, and he let us in without a word. The fire in the middle of the room was banked, it wasn't very cold outside after all, and the main room was mostly empty. Since this inn wasn't near a town, it didn't have people coming in just to eat during the day. Aside from the innkeeper, there was just a drunkard in the corner who was already drowning whatever sorrows he had in Nordic mead. Babette stepped into the shadows and disappeared from sight, leaving just the tell-tale shimmer of an invisibility spell.

"What do you want?"

"Can you tell me where Jacob Larethi's room is? He's a family friend and my mother gave me a package for him."

"Second floor, third door on the left." The innkeeper went back to whatever he'd been doing before.

I went up the stairs along one side of the room, and counted out to the door the innkeeper had told me was where my target was. Babette sidled up to me, still invisible.

"You should be able to take care of this. I'm going to find a snack. Join me once you kill the doggy in there."

I slowly pushed the door open, knowing that it might have been a better idea to sneak in. Sure enough, as soon as it was opened far enough to see inside, the man who had to be my target came into view with a sword already in his hand. It only dropped slightly when he saw I was seemingly a little girl.

"Jacob Larethi?" I asked. Best to make sure, after all. I'd asked around yesterday on how the others did their contracts, and I found that I liked Festus's answer best. After all, what could beat the classic "Do what I do: Walk up to them, introduce yourself, melt all their skin off, and then run like the wind."?

"Yes?"

"I'm Rizalia Venora." He raised an eyebrow and waited for me to continue. In the short silence, I prepared two spells in my mind. "Tell Hircine that the Night Mother sends her regards."

He leaped at me as soon as I mentioned the Night Mother, and only the fact that my spell was already prepared saved my life. His sword slashed down across my chest, tearing the fabric of my dress and just barely grazing the skin before I threw him back against a wall with one spell. The next, an admittedly basic destruction spell, doused him in flames that eagerly caught on his body. They flickered out before spreading to the walls, but not before melting most of his body and leaving him just a charred corpse in a slightly-malformed steel cuirass.

I knew someone would be coming up any second to investigate the screams, so I jumped into the hallway and closed the door. I started looking in every room down the hall for Babette. I finally found her leaning over a sleeping woman. It looked like one of the inn's employees had decided to take a nap… and with my thirst they might not wake up from it.

"From those screams, I'm assuming you did it?" Babette stepped away from the sleeping Nord and waved an arm invitingly at it. Her eyes seemed to be focused on my chest for some reason as she spoke next, and her cheeks were tinted slightly red from blushing. "Drink your fill from her, I've already drunk mine."

I walked to where Babette had been before, and sank my fangs delicately into the soft, warm flesh. I savored the blood as it flowed into my mouth, shuddering in the ecstasy that always came with feeding. By the time I withdrew, our poor victim was barely alive. She had enough blood left to stay alive, but just barely.

"Well, that went pretty well for my first contract. Got to feed, and burned a werewolf alive."

"Ummm… you do know that you're dress is torn and your chest is open for all to see, right?" Ah, now I got why she was blushing. I looked down and it was easy to see my tiny breasts through the tear that the werewolf's sword had left. From what I'd seen, most girls that were my age, before I was turned, of course, were still flat as a board. Babette was no exception to this, even though she was a year older physically. According to my parents, I was just an early developer.

"Oh, right. I'll have to fix that once we get back to the Sanctuary." As I was talking I noticed that the sword really had made a shallow cut along the center of my torso. I brought a finger up to it and drew it along the barely-bleeding wound, the soft golden light knitting the flesh back together until there was just a paler patch on my already pale skin.

"Well, let's get going. We have no more business here." I groaned again.

"You mean I have to get back on that demon of a horse?"

Babette brought her gaze back up to my face as I used one arm to cover the tear in my dress… her stare there had been a bit unnerving.

"You think Ares is a demon horse?" She laughed. "Just wait until you ride Astrid's. Ares is nothing compared to Shadowmere."

* * *

So far, the only thing I disliked about being in the Brotherhood was having to ride these damned horses. It had hurt to sit down during my time at the Sanctuary before, but the web of bruises all over my backside made riding behind Babette hurt like Hell.

When we were just an hour away from the Sanctuary, something came into view on the road ahead of us. At first, it seemed to be like all the other carts we'd passed in the past few hours. But something about the shape of it seemed familiar… and then it hit me.

"If that's who I think it is…" I shook my head as we gained ground on the cart. It couldn't be… could it? "Babette, didn't Astrid say that things would be getting more interesting soon because the Night Mother was coming?"

"Yeah, why? Who do you think that is, anyway?" Came her reply.

"You know why I told you I was in Whiterun?"

"Yeah, a plan you and an odd jester made went too far. Why?"

"Well, the jester was supposedly bringing his mother's body to a new sanctuary… I hadn't thought that was what he was actually doing, or if it was I'd assumed he was just moving an old corpse from one tomb to another. But now that I think about it… his outfit had the same color pattern as Shrouded Armor does." I paused for a second to figure out how to word the next part. "He mentioned that his mother had waited this long to get back to her loyal children… that, along with the part about a new sanctuary for her, takes on a whole new meaning when you think he might be with the Dark Brotherhood."

"Well, we'll see if it is that jester in a minute or two." Babette shot back skeptically.

Sure enough, a few minutes later we pulled even with the cart and a familiar black-and-red jester's outfit came into view.

"Cicero!" I released my grip from Babette's waist, which I had been holding onto to keep my balance, and cupped my hands so the jester would hear me.

"Ooooooh! Cicero didn't expect to see the little Night-Child again!" Cicero squealed out, turning to look at Babette and me.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, here's another chapter. Not my best work, once again, but pretty good in my opinion. Next up we'll have Cicero arriving at the Sanctuary! (Not Yet Edited)**

**As always, would appreciate reviews or PM's containing you guys' thoughts on the story so far! And remember, the poll is still up on my profile for awhile yet!**


	6. Chapter Five

"I didn't expect to see you again either, Cicero. But, as you might be able to see, a lot has changed in the few days since we met." I gave the jester a grin. "Still bringing your mother to a new Sanctuary I see? A little something tells me it's just an hour away."

"Cicero see's that you travel with another Un-Child now!" He dropped his horse's reins onto his lap and clapped. "The Sanctuary is near, it is! Is it maybe that the Night-Child is a Dark Sister? A Daughter of Sithis?" He broke out into a maniacal laugh.

Babette gave me a look that basically said 'This guy is crazy'. I just shook my head at her and turned back to Cicero as he spoke again.

"Perhaps she's a fellow assassin of the _Dark Brotherhood_!" He stressed the name, picking up the reins to speed up his cart now that he knew the Sanctuary was but an hour away. Babette urged her horse, Ares, faster as well to keep up. "Mother must be so pleased that her loyal children sent a pair of assassins to escort her home! If only she would speak and tell me…" He sighed.

"Keeper, we weren't sent to escort you." Babette cut in before I could say anything. "We had no idea when you would be coming along, so we couldn't arrange an escort along the road. We have, however, prepared a room for the Night Mother, and are in the process of repairing one for you, Keeper. We're on our way back from a contract, and would be honored to escort the Unholy Matron to our humble Sanctuary."

Now that there was an option other than riding on this demon of a horse, I was going to take it. I levitated up and over so I was sitting next to Cicero on his cart. Once again, my necklace spread an unclean warmth through my body. It had only done this when I was near Cicero… and the Night Mother. Maybe the necklace has something to do with the Brotherhood's Unholy Matron.

"What, don't like riding with me Rizalia?" Babette called over jokingly.

"Oh, riding with you is fine!" And it was. Sure, I had to hold onto her to keep from bouncing off the horse whenever I rode with her, but that wasn't too bad. "It's the horse I don't like!"

* * *

Just over an hour later, we arrived at the Sanctuary. The sun was starting to sink into the western sky, but it's light hadn't bothered me much at all today. After all, the fresh blood eased the pain and slowness that the sun usually brought on.

Cicero had abandoned his cart at the onset of the path, hiding it in the forest in case it would be needed later, and was now levitating the Night Mother's crate down our path. Babette had gone ahead to tell everyone that the Night Mother was here, while I'd stayed back to help Cicero. He was laboring under the crate's weight, even though he was using magic, and if any animal came along it wouldn't end well. And, mage that I was, I would be able to step in if he lost control of his spell.

The trip along the path passed uneventfully. Festus was holding the Black Door open for us as we got to the entrance, and he didn't close it until we were inside the Sanctuary. The old wizard always had struck me as a stickler for traditions, and that was supported by how he was the only one to come greet us. It seemed nobody else cared about the Brotherhood's founder… not even Babette.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but we got the Night Mother's crate through the door and down the stairs into the main room. At least everyone had the respect to gather there to welcome Cicero and his precious charge. The jester, or rather Keeper, accepted the crowbar Arnbjorn offered him and pried one side of the crate off. The Night Mother's coffin, when it emerged, was both simple and beautiful at the same time.

Cicero didn't take her completely out of the crate yet, as Astrid had walked up to talk.

"Let me be the first to welcome you and the Night Mother to _my_ humble Sanctuary." I couldn't help but notice the emphasis she put on _my. S_he smiled at him, but the warmth in her words never reached her eyes. They were as cold as the icy light still hanging from the ceiling. She extended a hand to the jester, who in a rare moment of seriousness, shook it.

"I'm honored to finally meet you in person, Astrid. I'm sure that our Unholy Matron has some reward to you for doing what those of us in Cyrodiil couldn't and running a Sanctuary without her guidance." I was no politician, but even I could see the thinly veiled threats hidden in the seemingly polite words. "Now that she once more has a safe home, I'm sure that she will soon choose a Listener."

I found it amazing, the change between the Cicero I'd spoken to before and on the ride back, and the one that was now talking to Astrid. It was like whenever things directly concerning the Night Mother came up, he became serious. It was then that I decided that he had sort-of two separate personalities: Jester and Keeper. The Jester was his usual laughing, silly self. The Keeper was his serious, truly assassin-like, side with which he cared for the Night Mother's remains.

"And until such a moment as she does choose a Listener, I'll continue running the Sanctuary like I always have." Astrid shot back, her smile turning into what I'd seen on Arnbjorn's right before he snapped a rabbit's back and ate it. And he wasn't even in wolf-form then… after seeing that his food-related nicknames took on a darker tone. "And that means that my word is law. I'm still the Mistress of this Sanctuary, and that won't change so easily."

"Oooh, of course milady." And just like that the serious Keeper was gone and it was once more the jester, the Fool of Hearts.

As everyone else started talking to Cicero, welcoming him to the Sanctuary and such, I went up to Babette's room… and I suppose it's mine too now. After all, Babette had asked me to stay there. Once I got up to it I shut the door and started changing. Finally I could stop holding the cut in my dress closed. I sat it in the corner, I'd try to mend it later, and then looked in the dresser for another. I was bent over looking in one of the drawers when the door swung open.

"Close the door!" I shrieked and repeated the words over and over several times as I spun around and tried to cover my privates. I only found out that it was Babette when I heard her squeak and slam the door shut again. I'd never really seen the use of underwear, with how filthy they got with repeated use and how hard it was to find them.

I quickly pulled on a yellow dress from the dresser. It fit about as well as the other one had. After taking a few seconds just to calm down and let my heart stop racing from Babette nearly walking in while I was naked, I opened the door.

"Erm… sorry about that." Babette's eyes were a bit wide and she wouldn't meet my eyes as she tossed me a coin purse. "There's your share from the contract." If I didn't know better, I'd have said she was blushing.

Babette went into the room and closed the door. I walked back into the main room and kicked off the shoes that the other vampire had given me, before plopping down on the edge of the pond and dipping my feet in the water. I'd have loved to go for a swim, but I couldn't really do it in the dress and there were people around, so it would be highly frowned upon to do it naked.

My necklace was still oddly warm, but not to the extent it had been when I was close to Cicero and the Night Mother. I pulled it out from under my dress, and looked at the pendant again. I'd done this several times over the years, wondering what it was and why it was so special when I couldn't even see an enchantment around it, but I'd never taken off the necklace. I wasn't even sure if I could, because the chain had shrunk somehow when Mother had put it on my neck and it didn't even have a clasp.

Something about the black metal, or maybe it was stone, rose with bright red gems around it was just hypnotizing to me. It was almost like the rose was covered with drops of blood.

I was still staring at it when Cicero came down a few hours later. I'd been lost in memories of the past and fantasies about how the future would turn out and hadn't even noticed the time passing.

"Oooh, what is the little Night-Child looking at?" Cicero kicked his boots off and rolled up his pants so that he could dangle his feet in the water without getting his clothes wet.

"Oh, hi Cicero." I shook my head a bit to clear up the fog of sleep that had been creeping up on me before continuing. "It's a necklace my mother gave me."

"A necklace? Can Cicero see?" I held the necklace out as far as I could so he could see it. He didn't try to touch it, and if he had I probably would have yanked it back. "Where'd you get this." The jester vanished and the Keeper was back in an instant.

"I told you, my Mother gave it to me two centuries ago, right before she died. She said that it would keep my safe, and to never lose it. I assume it's been in the family for generations if she found it that important." What was he so curious about? "It got warm every time I was near your cart, but I assume it was something to do with the Night Mother that made it warmer." I shrugged.

"Come with me." He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet. He didn't even let me slip on my shoes as he pulled me along behind him. His grip, warm as it was, was like iron. When I couldn't keep up with his long strides, the grip grew painfully tight and he practically dragged me along behind him.

When we got to the room where he had set up the Night Mother's coffin, he shut and locked the doors. I admit, I was a bit scared now. What had I done to have him actually drag me up here?

He pulled me to just in front of the Night Mother's coffin, and then let go. He slowly, almost reverently, opened the doors to her coffin. The body inside… well, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The Night Mother's skin was dry, looking a bit like old leather, and her head was lolled to the side. Seemingly the only thing keeping her upright and together were the frayed old ropes wrapped around her.

"Forgive me for this Mother." Cicero whispered under his breath as he reached toward a silver glint around the corpse's neck. He hooked a finger under what I could now tell was the chain of a necklace, and then he pulled it up to show a pendant that was nearly identical to mine. Just like I'd noticed mine doing on several occasions, it seemed to leech light away from its surroundings.

My necklace actually seemed to glow as I stepped closer to the coffin, and I was sure it would have practically burnt itself into my skin if it hadn't been on the outside of the dress.

"It's just like Mother's… a Blood Flower." He breathed in amazement, before reverently tucking the corpse's back into its dress. He didn't close the coffin.

"Do you hear anything? Anything at all?!" He pleaded, a manic gleam in his eyes as they flashed between me and the Night Mother. Did he think that I might be the Listener? I closed my eyes and listened for anything out of the ordinary, anything that seemed different. But there was nothing. He seemed to guess that I didn't hear anything.

"No, of course she doesn't. Mother's just not ready to speak yet. Not to the Night-Child who bears her Blood Flower, not to sweet, sweet Cicero, not to… to anybody!" The Keeper was gone now, and the Fool of Hearts was back. He seemed about ready to pull his hair out as he closed the coffin and shouted out the last word of his sentence. "Why sweet Mother? Why won't you speak to poor, poor Cicero? I'd give anything to hear your sweet voice just once!"

I slipped out the door as the jester started sobbing. I quietly shut it behind me and went up to Babette's room. The other vampire was already asleep, and even though I wanted to talk to her more about how the Brotherhood used to be when the Night Mother still spoke, I just went to bed. I didn't want to wake her, even when I heard her tossing and turning in her sleep.

Just before I fell asleep, I thought I heard her mutter my name and something else I couldn't make out, followed by what sounded like a moan.

_"Soon my child, soon. You are not yet ready to hear my voice, to speak my words. And yet it is nearly time. Darkness will rise when silence dies." _

The words echoed into my mind as I stood in a darkened void, every sense dead. I figured I must have been dreaming. Odd… usually my dreams, nightmares or not, revolved around my time in Tel Venora. I'd never seen this void before… not in any dream, never heard the voice either.

After a few seconds, I drifted off into one of my usual pleasant dreams and forgot all about the darkened void.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what do you all think? I don't mean to beg, but I really would like a few more reviews, or at least votes on the poll on my profile!**


	7. Chapter Six

The room was empty when I woke up. Apparently Babette had woken up earlier than me and left without waking me up. The dress I was wearing was clean enough for now, so I didn't feel the need to change. There was a an odd, but familiar, smell around Babette's bed that I couldn't quite place.

I was as prepared for the day as I was likely to get, so I went out and down to the room where I'd first met Festus. Babette, Gabriella, Festus, and me all seemed to spend most of our time in there watching Lis or working on various potions and enchantments.

"How are you this morning, Gabriella?" I sat down next to her and took a look at the book she was reading. Instead of the book on death or knitting I'd expected, it seemed to be a rather… uhh… explicit… romance novel. I looked away with a blush after reading just a few sentences.

"As well as can be expected, Sister. It's been a week since I killed anyone… will probably be talking with Nazir about a contract soon." She put in a bookmark and sat the book down on the table. "What about you?"

"Kind of bored, to be honest. I won't need to feed for a few days after my last contract, and there aren't many test subjects around for the new spells I want to try out." I paused to yawn and pop my neck. "Say, have you seen Babette around today?"

"Yes. She went and got a contract from Astrid earlier today. I imagine she's well on her way to Markarth by now." Well, that sure messed up my plans for the day.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Festus is, would you? I want to talk to him about something." I'd read about a parasitic enchantment in my book a few years back, but only now had I remembered it. I could finally try it out… though I would need to be careful.

"I think he's still asleep. The old codger sleeps in longer than anyone I've ever seen before."

"Thanks. I'll wait here for him to wake up. You don't happen to have a spare silver necklace that you'd be willing to lend to me for an experiment, do you?"

"Sorry, but no. I don't have one."

"Ok then. I'll improvise."

After half an hour, Festus finally came in. I stopped him before he could get past the door.

"You've been in the Brotherhood for a long time, right?"

"Yes, over a century. It's a wonder how prolonged use of magicka can extend life, isn't it? I look like I'm just sixty or seventy, but I'm nearly a century and a half." He yawned and sat down next to Gabriella. "Speaking of aging… how do you Telvanni's wizard-lords get your immortality? I've never heard of one of you dying from old age, even after thousands of years."

"Don't look at me for an answer to that. My master considered me a disgrace, and I was never anywhere near important enough to know how it's done." Gabriella replied. She seemed a charming woman, and I couldn't imagine why anyone would consider her a disgrace.

"Ah well. I don't suppose anyone showed a little kid how to do it?" Festus turned to me.

"Oh, I know exactly how it's done, and I think I know how to reverse it and have all the stolen years hit someone all at once." I grinned up at him. I really did know how, my parents had given away a sizeable chunk of knowledge and land to the other councilors to allow me to be shown the Telvanni's age-old secret. But I'd sworn an oath on my ancestors to never tell a soul about it, or use it on anyone else. "But I, unfortunately, can't tell you. It's of no use to me, however, because of my vampirism."

"You'd deny an aging old man a chance at immortality?" He seemed almost to be putting on an intentionally hurt face. I knew the trick, however, and it wasn't going to work. "Damn. You, my dear sister, have a heart nearly as cold as the Unholy Matron's."

"I swore an oath on my ancestors. No Dunmer would break that oath. But that's something I wanted to ask you all about. What were things like when the Night Mother still spoke?"

It took awhile, but Festus explained, with some input from the others as they wandered in and out, how the Sanctuary ran before the old Listener died and Astrid took over completely in running things. How until the Black Hand had collapsed contracts had been delivered every week by a speaker or his silencer. There had been many more contracts then, both because people still believed in the Brotherhood's power and that they didn't have to hear rumors to learn who performed the Black Sacrament.

There had been more people in the Sanctuary then, and recruitment was a lot different from how Babette told me it was usually done nowadays. Back then, apparently, the Night Mother watched every murder performed in Tamriel, and maybe in all of Nirn. If she chose the murderer as one of her children, she would relay their name and location to the Listener and subsequently the Speakers who would then contact them and offer them a place in the Brotherhood.

I learned a lot more besides, but eventually I felt the need to bring up the other thing I'd wanted to talk to Festus about.

"You enchant things a lot, don't you Festus?"

"I wouldn't say that. I'm a master in destruction, and I have a decent understanding in most other schools, but enchanting is one of my weaker areas. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you've ever heard about parasitic enchantments?"

"You mean ones that drain life, magicka, or energy? I've heard of and used several of those before."

"No, those are vampiric enchantments. Besides, those all need soul gems. If this parasitic enchantment is done right, it won't need one." And it wouldn't. The book said that it was dangerous to make and even more dangerous to use, far more so than necromancy, because the enchantment would draw on your very life force to power itself, and that it would burn up your soul from the inside within a few days.

"An enchantment that doesn't need a soul gem? This I've got to see." He seemed skeptical, but that was to be expected.

"First, I need a necklace. Or more accurately, I just need the chain for this demonstration."

"I think I've got one here somewhere…" He muttered as he walked over to one of the clutter-covered shelves that were dotted around the room. He tossed the useless chunks from used soul gems into Lis's pit and then pulled out an old tarnished silver necklace. He tossed it to me.

"This'll do." I muttered as I drew Zantirus and cut the dull pendant off the chain. I tossed it back to Festus, and then walked over to the enchanting table, dragging a chair along behind me. I hopped up onto it and lay the chain down on the table.

Festus and Gabriella were both watching as I set to work. I explained each part I was doing as I did it.

"Ideally, this part would be made of glass. But I doubt Arnbjorn could make a hollow sphere of it this size, so I'll have to make do with the same kind of ice that I used in the thing outside." I was pulling a little ball from the water that had dripped into Lis's pit during the last rainstorm. I put each end of the chain into the water, and then flash-froze it.

I was left with a hollow sphere of ice attached to the necklace as a pendant. Now I could start the enchantment itself. I could picture the instructions and how the book had said to perform them perfectly. I didn't explain this part, it was old family magic after all, but the gestures and runes of magicka that floated down from my hands might have shown a trained observer what I was doing.

When I was done, it didn't look any different. But it wasn't supposed to. It was supposed to look just like a normal necklace, until someone put it on. Then a flame would light up within the sphere, and over a period of days it would burn off the wearer's life-force. Just carrying it on your person, without touching your skin, would activate it, hence why it was so dangerous. The only way around it was to carry a soul gem extremely near to it and it would leech power from it instead.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Festus snorted and tried to pick up the necklace. I slapped his hand away before he could touch it.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you. It burns the energy from its wearer's soul like most enchantments burn through soul gems." I grabbed a filled petty soul gem from the corner of the enchanting table and moved it closer to the necklace. When it was about six inches from it, the pendant lit up with a soft glow as a fire started up inside the ice.

"Ok… now that's something I never thought of." Festus shook his head. "So it kills whoever wears it after a few days?"

"Yup. Or at least it's supposed to… never made this myself." I shrugged and then passed my hand over it a few times while disabling the enchantment by knocking a pillar out of the magicka flow supporting it. The flame winked out, and I tucked the necklace in my pocket. It would be safe to carry it like this for awhile... I hoped.

For the most part, the day passed uneventfully. I took a bath while everyone else was eating lunch, and Astrid gave me a few pointers on how to use a knife effectively. She was surprised, like most people were, when Zantirus seemed to just appear in my hand for the training. Surprisingly, she didn't ask anything about my past when I told her about the enchantments that Mother had put on it.

When I asked, she simply said, "For most of us, the Brotherhood's a fresh start, a new life for people who've lost everything. We don't ask questions."

I went to bed fairly early that night. Cicero had spent most of the day locked up in the Night Mother's room, doing some ceremony or another, so I hadn't been able to talk to him. And with Babette gone, there wasn't really anyone else I wanted to talk to very much.

I bolted upright, my hands flying to my stomach at a pain unlike any I'd felt before. I'd been having a dream, that much I could remember, but even as I tried to think on it the details were slipping away, leaving just a phantom pain in my stomach that quickly faded. After a few useless minutes spent trying to figure out what in my dream could have caused a pain that bad, I just shrugged and got ready for the day.

"Hey, tidbit, Astrid wants to talk to you." He looked down at the blue dress I was wearing and winced. "By the way, that dress gives me a headache." Well… I kind of expected a werewolf to be rude, but getting a headache from the color blue? Kind of weak compared to what I expected from were-beasts.

I went up to the entrance room where Astrid usually was and found her leaning over the map and pointing something out to Gabriella.

"Ah, good. You're here." Astrid practically purred… I swear, sometimes her voice sounded like a Khajiit's. "I've got two new contracts in Whiterun. Word is that one Canros Venir has performed the Black Sacrament. That contract is for you, Rizalia, and Gabriella here will be taking the other."

"I'm going to have to ride one of those damned horses again, aren't I?" Her nod told me all I needed to know, and elicited a groan from me.

"If you want to get there in any reasonable timeframe, yes. You'll have to ride double with Gabriella. I'm giving her enough gold to get you a horse of your own so you can go out on your own for contracts." Astrid smirked. "At least Gabriella's saddle is normal sized, so you won't be stuck on the back of Babette's small one. Now get going you two. You've got people to kill and money to make."

The trip to Whiterun took four days. Babette had pushed her horse hard on the last ride back, but Gabriella didn't go nearly as fast. On the third day I managed to convince Gabriella to help me catch and feed off a travelling bard. We left his body in a ditch on the side of the road. In my opinion, he deserved it with how he lusted after Gabriella even with a wedding ring on.

The guards let us in when we got to the city, and Gabriella took us to an old friend of hers. A fortune teller by the name of Olava the Feeble, who apparently offered her house as a safe-haven for the Brotherhood when they were in the city on business.

"Hello there little one." The old woman rasped out. "I assume that you're not what you seem to be, since you travel with Gabriella?"

"Your assumption is correct. I'm older than the two of you put together, and here on Brotherhood business just like Gabriella." I yawned. It was night outside, but I was still tired after a ride that had taken most of the day. What kind of a vampire was I, to still sleep at night and go about in the day? "You wouldn't happen to know where Canros Venir lives, would you?"

"Oh, him? He's a rich stranger from Windhelm. A Dunmer who came in and bought Breezehome, and has only been seen outside of it a few times since. Rumor has it that he's been performing the Black Sacrament, and since you two are here I assume that the rumors are true?"

"Astrid seems to think so. Gabriella has a different contract, but I'm here to talk to him and see who he wants dead. Could you give me directions to this 'Breezehome'?" I noticed that Gabriella had left the shack while we were talking, most likely to find her contract.

"Sure. Step outside for a moment, you can see it from the porch. It's right on the road, just a few rows of houses from us. You must have walked right past it to get here."

I followed the old woman out the front door, and then looked at the arched roof she was pointing to, just visible over the flatter houses in between here and there. "That's Breezehome. An assassin like you should have no trouble getting through the lock. Come back once you've found out who to kill."

I thanked the old lady and then started off toward the house. When I got onto the main street that led from the gate all the way to the market, I stepped into the shadows and waited for the people on the street to pass. Aside from the bored-looking guards stationed everywhere, there were two groups around. One was almost right in front of me, three Redguards, a man, woman, and a girl that looked to be about ten, were being escorted by a couple of guards. I caught onto the tail end of their conversation.

"…go!" The way he slurred the simple word disproved his next argument. "I told you, I'm not drunk! I need to go get the sword!"

"Amren, it hurts all of us to see you like this. I know your father's sword was stolen, but it would be suicide to go after those bandits by yourself." One of the guards that was holding him sighed. "And you know that's just what you'll do if we don't escort you home while you're like this."

The other group was further away, walking up from the gate, were three cloaked and hooded travelers. Something about them seemed a bit familiar… and that made me a little uneasy. I was fairly sure that they couldn't see me, concealed in the shadows as I was, but I shrank back against the wooden wall all the same.

The two groups met and walked past each other, and I was about to step out when it clicked what about them was familiar. Their cloaks weren't normal for travelers… but they were the norm for vampires that had to travel during the day, or who didn't want to be recognized.

One of the vampires nodded at the other two, who sprung into action. With efficiency that would have made a Dark Brotherhood assassin proud, they sprang at the group behind them and slit the guard's throats in one motion. The woman screamed as the person that I assumed was her husband stumbled forward without support, his hand drunkenly fumbling for his sword. The woman scrabbled for a knife as her daughter started screaming, but before it even came out of its sheath she fell with a gurgle as a spike of ice buried itself into her neck.

The magician among the three vampires spun around and started throwing more spells at the guards that had started down from the marketplace at the scream. Drunk as he was, the Redguard was obviously a skilled fighter. He'd shoved his daughter behind him and was holding off the two knife-wielding vampires with his sword. But even I could tell that he wouldn't last very long against them. So, once my surprise at the initial attack wore off, I sprang out to try and help.

Arrows were striking sparks off the cobblestones as more guards rushed out from their barracks to help. But most only got off a single shot before expertly aimed blasts of magic took their lives. None of them ever got close enough to help the flagging warrior. As I rushed over to him, he got in one lucky strike that took an entire arm off one of his attackers. That one fell back with a scream, but before he could turn the other had buried the knife in the back of his neck.

Seeing this, I ran instead to where his daughter was crying next to her mother's body. I pulled Zantirus out and put myself between her and the closest vampire. The one missing an arm wasn't a threat anymore; he'd die soon enough because even a vampire couldn't live without blood in their veins. Sure, we could take a lot more punishment and overall damage than a normal person, but we died easily enough.

The vampire turned to finish off the girl I was trying to protect, but he hesitated for a moment when he saw me. Maybe it was my dagger, or the fury and determination written across my face, but something made him think twice. I didn't know why I was risking my own life to protect one little girl… but I was doing it. It could have been because I felt for what she must have been going through now. Just having lost both her parents, and about to be killed by a vampire. It was painfully similar to what had happened to me.

"I'll give you one chance to turn and run. I'm not letting you kill this girl." The steel in my voice should have warned him off.

"Who are you, little girl, to think you can stop the Volkihar?" He growled out, his free hand coming up and pulling down his hood. This one turned out to be a Dunmer like me… but that wouldn't stop me from killing him if I had to. "I guess I'll just have to kill you both."

He rushed at me as soon as he finished speaking. I was trembling with fear as he rushed at me. I'd never faced an enemy like this before… and I wasn't sure I could do it. Every time before when I'd fought or killed someone, it had either been up close with a totally unsuspecting victim who couldn't fight back, or at a distance where they had no chance to hurt me. Every time that it had seemed like I would have to fight up close and personal, I had run.

And now I couldn't do that. In the few seconds I had before he hit me, an old memory that I'd otherwise forgotten flashed into my mind.

* * *

**Author's Note: I suppose I should be glad I get any reviews at all, but if you put the time in to read my chapters couldn't you at least put your thoughts on the story so far down? Or at least what you think of my sort-of cliffhanger?**

**Anyway, next chapter might be out soon, or it might take as long as this one. It depends on the winds of my muse.**


	8. Chapter Seven

_"Your mother seems to think I should be teaching you about history right now, and I won't deny that it's important, but I have a special lesson for you today." Father was pacing around the small classroom that my parents had added just to teach me. Books on history and math, magic and strategy, language and culture, and everything in between stood on shelves covering the room's walls. _

_"What is it?" I asked curiously, my little five-year-old feet not even brushing the ground as I swung them back and forth from my chair._

_"I want to give you some advice to take to heart. It will help in all aspects of your life." He lapsed into silence while I waited._

_"Aren't you going to tell me the advice?" I blurted out after nearly ten minutes of just sitting there._

_"Ah, but that's what you expected me to do, isn't it?" He replied cryptically. "You see, I didn't do what you thought I would. In business, it can throw the other person off. In combat, it can confuse them. Trick them into making a fatal mistake. So remember: always do what they'll never expect."_

In just a second the entire memory had gone through my mind, and I took Father's words to heart. The vampire charging at me would never expect a little girl to charge right back at him… so that's what I did. His eyes widened as I ran forward at him, Zantirus held forward. He tried to backpedal, but he was too slow and the dagger plunged into his stomach before he could react.

His scream made me want to cover my ears and bury my head in the sand like I'd heard some giant birds down in Elsweyr did. I held on to the dagger as the vampire thrashed, his scream rising higher and higher as his struggling drove the dagger out of his back. Now I could see how dreadfully effective the pain-causing enchantment on the dagger was. This was the first time I'd ever actually stabbed anyone… every other death I'd caused had been through magic or my fangs. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever used Zantirus for anything other than cutting things and intimidation.

Then I screamed myself as the vampire realized he was still holding a knife himself, and opened up a long cut all down my right arm. It probably wasn't very deep, but it went from my elbow all the way to my wrist. And it hurt like hell. It wouldn't affect my ability to use the dagger or my magic, I was left-handed after all, but nonetheless I stepped backwards as blood seeped into the material of my dress.

I decided just to put an end to the vampires misery as his screams dragged on and on. A bolt of fire shattered his skull. A whistling noise gave me just enough warning to drop to the ground as another icy spike flew by where my head had been and shattered against the stones. My chin smacked painfully on the cobblestones, but I managed not to bite my tongue.

I rolled over just in time to avoid another, and then got up onto one knee and threw up a ward just in time to stop a third spike. My arm shuddered as a small fraction of the force behind the magic filtered through.

The spell-casting vampire appeared to be throwing all of his efforts into killing me, as he was no longer throwing spells at the guards trying to shoot him. More spikes of ice, even a few fireballs and lightning bolts, struck my wards as I struggled to keep them up between the girl and the other vampire. They were starting to fail as my physical strength to keep them out in front of me started to fade away.

I managed to fling out a couple of my own spells, but none of them hit him. But the guards that we'd both forgotten about stepped in then. I hadn't even noticed when the arrows had stopped bouncing off the stones, but they had. Someone must have stopped the random shooting, and organized the guard's enough that they got off an aimed volley that made him look like a pincushion.

I let the ward fade, but resisted the urge to slump down to the ground. I couldn't afford to linger here long, because the guards would want to talk to me. And if they found out I was a vampire, even after I'd fought against these three, I would be executed. I turned to the girl that I'd just risked my life to save and saw her staring at me with wide eyes.

"Are you alright?" I started, but didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Look, I know what must be going through your head right now. You didn't fight, you couldn't fight, and now both your parents are dead. But you're still alive, and they'd want it that way. Just…"

"I…" She interrupted me as she burst into sobs. "I'm worthless. Braith the Bully they called me… always spoiling for a fight. But I couldn't even do anything to help my parents…" She choked out.

"Look, Braith, you're not worthless. There was nothing that could be done to save your parents. They wouldn't want you to dwell on their deaths, they'd want you to go and make a life for yourself."

That was all I got to say before I had to run. The guards were too close for comfort, so I dashed into the shadows behind Breezehome and forced a window open with a telekinetic shove. The lock snapped and I leapt up and through into the darkened house. I shut the window and slumped down under it. What happened outside had exhausted me, so I just lay there for a few minutes after sealing the cut on my arm.

Then I got up and walked further in, trying to find the bedroom and the man I was here to meet. It only took a few minutes to find him sitting up in bed with an enchanted dagger in his hand. He didn't lower it as he challenged me.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He demanded, the dim light from the single candle in the room glinting off the elven dagger in his hand, and reflecting in his red eyes.

"Oh relax Canros, I'm the answer to your prayers." I told him as I stepped into the room. A serious look adorned my face as I continued. "You called to the Night Mother, and I'm here to answer that call."

"You look a bit young to be involved with the Dark Brotherhood." One of his eyebrows arched up as he gave me a dubious look.

"Looks can be deceiving." I grinned and showed him my fangs. "And vampirism does tend to keep one remarkably… fresh." Sure, I stole that line from Babette, but it was worth it.

"Well then, it took you long enough to get here. I've been waiting nearly two weeks."

"If you had legs as short as mine, it would take you just as long to walk this far." The lie slipped easily off my tongue. No sense to let him know we had to rely on rumors to find contracts. "Now who do you want dead?"

"Yes yes, I suppose it would. But you see, there's a small… complication." He winced, and I soon knew why. "I don't know exactly who it is that needs to die."

"You do realize that once the Black Sacrament is performed, a life must be given, right?" Babette and Festus had explained that much to me. "If you don't have someone for me to kill, that life will be yours."

"I know, I know. Just give me a second to explain." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I had everything I was going to say planned out… but then those screams outside woke me up and gave me this damned headache and I can't remember half of it. Say, were those screams your handiwork?"

"Not really. I got caught up in a little… ruckus outside when a few other vampires got a bit out of hand." I shrugged. "They deserved what they got."

"Okay then…" It was silent for a few seconds as he gathered his thoughts. I tapped my foot impatiently. "I don't know who exactly the person I want dead is, but I know what he's being called. You see, before I moved here to Whiterun, I ran virtually the entire Grey Quarter in Windhelm. I kept my fellow Dunmer from causing trouble for the Nords, and in return Ulfric tried to keep them in line. But with how often he's out fighting, people inevitably slipped through the cracks. I dealt with them peacefully when possible, but when it wasn't I made them… disappear."

"Me and Jorleif, Ulfric's steward, had an arrangement in place. Ulfric got a little more gold to fund his Stormcloaks, and I would have mostly free-reign in the Grey Quarter as long as I helped keep crime in the city under control. So it was no surprise when he came to me for help with solving a recent string of murders. I put some of my associates to work on it, and then went back to my usual business." He grew more animated, almost angry as he started talking faster. "But then the next victim was my wife. After that I threw everything I had into finding the killer for revenge. I even dug out my armor from my days in House Redoran and searched for him myself."

"I'm assuming you didn't find him, and something else happened to drive you out of Windhelm seemingly in exile?" I cut in when he paused to breath.

"Yes, you're right. I was so close to finding him that I could taste it… but then my sister stayed too late at the corner club and came back alone. Even with all of the men that were willing to die at my orders, all the resources I had, she died. We found her, still warm, on my doorstep the next morning. This… this Butcher had carved a message into her back." He wasn't crying, but he seemed close to it.

"And what did the message say?" Asking for information like this probably wasn't normal for the Brotherhood, but I was curious.

"It said '_You tried to stop me from bringing back my sister, so now I take yours' _. I just couldn't take it after that… so I left behind almost everything I owned and came here." He sighed. "I need you to kill the Butcher. As painfully and brutally as possible. Talk to Jorleif when you get to Windhelm; he'll be expecting you and I've asked him to give you all the notes and research I had done for it."

"You know this will cost you. A lot. Having to not only track down, but find out the identity of the target isn't standard Brotherhood business."

"I know, I know. But come back here when the Butcher's dead, and three thousand Septims will be waiting for you. I assume that will cover it?" Not much money compared to what my family once had, but quite a bit of gold still. It seemed like it would be enough.

"That'll do." I nodded before grinning and showing him my fangs again. "This Butcher will soon know how real killers do it." And with that I cast an invisibility spell I'd had ready in my mind, so that I seemed to fade out of view and disappear. Mysterious exits and all that.

It didn't take very long to get back to Olava's house. I slipped in, noticing that she had fallen asleep in her chair, and decided not to wake her. Instead I went over to one of her bookshelves and grabbed one titled _The Art of Farseeing_.

_"To most people, the ancient magic of Farseeing is seen as a fraud. In truth, most of this nearly lost art's so-called practitioners are charlatans and untalented hacks. These fake fortune-tellers, seers, and whatever else they choose to call themselves claim to be able to view the weave of fate, to see the spidery strands of time and know the future. Most of them just make things up to swindle their patrons. But there are a select few who are genuine, who truly have the gift for Farseeing._

_The affinity for Farseeing is rare. I myself have only come across three that I was certain were genuine. Two of those three are now dead, but one still survives. When I was but a young man and she barely more than a girl, Olava foresaw my marriage. She foresaw that I would have two daughters and become a well-off scholar. She told me that fire and death were all that awaited me after this happened. I waved her off at the time as naught but a charlatan, and went on with my life. _

_Over time, the things she told me came true. I married, I wrote, I had children. I didn't remember her prophecies at all until my house burned down with them in it. It was only when I was crying over my family's graves that I remembered what she'd told me so long ago. I came back to Whiterun, and sure enough she was still there living in the same place, having made a name for herself as a legitimate fortune teller. _

_Almost all the information on Farseeing contained within these pages comes from her, with a small amount of it coming from other sources…"_

I read almost all the way through the night, fascinated by this whole branch of magic that I'd never heard about before Gabriella mentioned in passing that it was the only thing she was really good at. Gabriella came back an hour before dawn, a big grin plastered onto her face even though she was soaking wet. It must have started raining outside while I was reading.

"From that grin, I assume your target was here in Whiterun?"

"Oh yes Sister." She sat down on the floor near the fire, letting its heat dry her robes. Why they didn't make clothes more waterproof I'd never know. "An old maid up in Dragonsreach wanted me to kill the man who'd raped and murdered her daughter, even though he was already in prison. One corpse rotting in the dungeons later, and we have ourselves a nice chunk of coin. Say, do you know anything about the corpses that the guards are cleaning up on the street going to the market?"

"Yeah. A trio of vampires went berserk and started attacking everyone. I know they killed at least four people, but probably a lot more." I hissed a little as I got angry. "They had the nerve to kill a Redguard girl's parents right in front of her. I stepped in after that."

It took only about a minute for me to tell Gabriella what had happened.

"That poor girl." The other Dunmer shook her head. "At least you saved her. Things like that are what make people call on us, or in some cases join us."

"Forgive me for forgetting to ask earlier, but how did your contract go?" She asked after a few minutes of sitting in silence.

"Haven't done it yet. It's in Windhelm, but it'll pay well. Three thousand Septims well. Though if you ask me, that's not enough to have to go to Windhelm." I muttered the last part to myself, but evidently Gabriella still heard it.

"Do you not like Windhelm, Sister?"

"No, not at all. I had a few… bad experiences there back before the Great War." Thankfully, Gabriella didn't push for what had happened. She went to sleep soon after the conversation had ended, and I was once more left alone with my thoughts.

Windhelm was the closest place I'd come to death since I'd become a vampire. I'd had other close calls, sure, and even gotten hurt a few times, but nothing had been as bad as what happened in Windhelm. A group of racist, drunk, and apparently pedophilic Nords had tried to kidnap me in the middle of the city, and the equally racist guards hadn't done anything to try to stop it. One of them had even tripped me when I tried to run to avoid bloodshed. So I'd been forced to fight back and kill them, in the process having them figure out I was a vampire.

Just about the entire city guard had chased me until I levitated over the city wall. But then they'd started shooting arrows at me, and I'd been hit in the shoulder and had fallen. I'd broken through the ice on the river, dislocating an arm in the process, and then nearly frozen to death as I got swept downstream by the current. I only just managed to melt through the ice in time, scalding myself with the water I'd heated to do so. It had taken almost a month for all of the burns and the hole from the arrow to heal. The only good thing was that most of the humans that had seen me then would be either dead or too old to really be doing anything by now.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep myself.

* * *

I woke up as sunlight landed on the exposed parts of my body, the sting bringing me out of a light sleep. Gabriella and Olava were both awake and eating. I moved out of the light as they greeted me.

"Ummm… what time is it?" I asked as I got up and stretched.

"An hour or two past dawn, so too late for you to go after someone to feed from." Gabriella answered.

"I don't feel like a snack now. Can go several more days comfortably as long as I have my cloak." I grunted as I popped my back. Sleeping like that wasn't very comfortable. "So, when are we leaving?"

"I'm ready to leave whenever you are, but before we go Olava has very kindly offered to look into your future." Gabriella paused to take another bite from the apple in her hand. "I really think you should let her. She's so much more skilled than I am."

I took a few seconds to think about it as the old woman continued with her breakfast. What could the harm be in being given a glimpse of my future? A few minutes later Olava was done with her food, and I was sitting across a small table from her. A few meaningless, but seemingly arcane, symbols decorated the black tablecloth on it, and a few unlit candles sat on it.

"Sorry for the props, but most people seem to not be able to grasp that nothing of this sort is needed for a reading. Now, if you'd just give me your hand we can begin."

I reached across the table, and she took my hand in both of hers. I could just barely sense the odd magic she wove through the silent phrases that she mouthed, but it was there. I knew immediately that this was something I'd never be able to do or copy.

"What I see is not set in stone, remember that. Fate is not set in stone, but rather is a web. There are many paths, yet all lead to the same destination. The actions you take may bend Fate, but it will not be broken. If something is meant to happen, one way or another it will." Her eyes closed, and she seemed to get younger as she spoke.

"It's starting…" She paused to breath. "I see… nothing. Darkness, as cold and deep as the Void itself. My vision… it's blocked."

"No wait, there's something there. A rose, darker than the darkest night, dipped in the blood of innocents. But… that's all I see." She shook her head without opening her eyes. "This can't be right. It's like something's blocking my sight, stopping me from seeing more." She sounded confused. But I remembered my necklace, and how it had felt when near the Night Mother. Maybe it could do more than that, if it was all that Olava could see when she tried to see my future.

Eventually she just opened her eyes, the years she'd seemingly lost crashing back down on her, and shook her head. "All I saw was that flower. Either something like it will kill you very soon, or some powerful being has claimed you and refuses to let me see your future." She rasped out, before her head slumped forward.

At first I thought she was dead, but then I heard a light snore and realized she'd fallen asleep. Gabriella tossed me my satchel as she picked up her stuff. "We should go now. Farseeing is tiring, and it's unlikely that she'll wake up anytime soon."

Shortly after that, we were on our way out of the city. There were noticeably fewer guards around, and the conversations were more subdued than when we'd first come in. From what snippets I managed to hear, they were talking about the murders from last night. Most of it was about how the vampires had murdered over a dozen guards and Braith's parents, but a few mentioned that a prisoner in Dragonsreach had been murdered.

As we were walking down to the gate, I saw a familiar face that made me hide behind Gabriella. I tugged on the simple gray dress she was wearing, her shrouded robes were a bit too recognizable after all, to get her attention.

"Why are you hiding?"

"Look, up ahead." I pointed to the guard barracks, where a group made up of half a dozen guards, a Dunmer in leather armor, and a burly Nord in some kind of metallic armor with a massive sword strapped to his back. The Nord was the one I recognized. "That guy with the massive sword knows I'm a vampire."

"What? How?"

"A few days before I first met Cicero, and later Babette, I was hitching a ride with an Imperial patrol that turned out to be escorting several prisoners to Helgen. Ulfric Stormcloak and a lot of his men were the main prisoners, but they also had two raggedly dressed men. That Nord was one of them, and he saw me rip out a soldier's throat."

"Wait… you were at Helgen? Are the rumors that it was torched by a dragon true?"

"I don't know, I was in a tower at the time, but the entire building shook as something massive roared." I shrugged, keeping out of sight as the group by the gates ran out. "All I know is something torched the village and the people in it. It stank worse than Arnbjorn does."

Since the Nord was gone now, we walked down to the gate. A pair of guards stepped in front of us and refused to let us leave.

"Sorry Ma'am, but the gates are closed by order of the Jarl."

"What? Why?" Gabriella demanded.

"A dragon's been spotted by the western watchtower." The guard on the left said. "Nobody's allowed out until Irileth and the others take care of it."

"A dragon? But they're just myths!"

"Try telling that to the poor bastards at Helgen. Myths don't burn down villages, don't kill good men." The other guard took up. "Things are going straight to Oblivion these days. First this gods damned civil war, then the dragons start coming back, and now vampires are openly attacking in the cities!"

"Not just cities, I hear that they burned the Hall of the Vigilant!" I noticed that the man's fists clenched around his sheathed sword's hilt. "My cousin was working with the Vigilants. It's been months since we heard from her… we're starting to think that she's dead. "

They seemed to get so engrossed in their own conversation that they forgot about us. Me and Gabriella exchanged a look. When she nodded, we sidled over and opened the gates just enough to slip out of the city. The guards were still carrying on about how some old group called the Dawnguard was supposedly reforming down by Riften. They didn't even notice as we left and shut the gate behind us.

With that done, we walked down to the stable to set off.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah… I keep getting sidetracked. Not the best at focusing on ideas. After this, I'm going to try to stick to an every other Friday update schedule which will give me a little time for other writing. **


	9. Chapter Eight

The trip to Windhelm took five days after I asked Gabriella to have us stop at an inn in one of the small villages that dotted the land. We didn't find any travelers in groups small enough to kill and feed off of when we were on the road, so I fed during our rest stop. We were only about a day or so from Windhelm, so we both took the opportunity to get a warm bath for a few extra Septims. Wouldn't hurt to look presentable when we went up to the steward, after all.

The massive metallic gates were hanging open to let the farmers and fishermen that didn't live in the city itself come and go, but me and Gabriella were the only Dunmer. I'd have to have been an idiot not to notice the dirty looks and hostile glares that we were getting. I could've sworn I heard one of the helmeted guards by the door mutter something about us 'filthy elves' not belonging here. It wouldn't have surprised me, really, but they didn't stop us so we ignored them.

We received more of the same glares as we walked down the central street to the imposing Palace of the Kings. I'd never been inside of it before, neither had Gabriella, so we didn't know what to expect. Before we even went inside, the two Stormcloaks guarding the doors stopped us.

"What business do two dark elves have in the Palace of the Kings?" The guard's voice was just dripping with bigotry.

"We've been sent to speak with Jorleif." Technically was true, but the guard just laughed.

"And what business would two filthy elves have with the Jarl's steward?"

"Hold your tongue. You're speaking to the best bounty hunters in all of Skyrim, hired to deal with the recent string of murders that you Stormcloaks seem to be too incompetent to deal with." The guards actually growled at that, and one seemed to be debating whether or not to just kill us then and there.

"Really?" His voice was just dripping with sarcasm. "I'd sooner believe that he'd hired the Imperial Legion to deal with it than an elven bitch and her spawn."

Ok… this racism was really starting to get under my skin. So I took matters into my own hands and let a little of my anger out, in a way that would make the story of us being bounty hunters more believable.

"This 'spawn' as you say has been trained since before she could walk. Right now I see three ways to kill you." I paused and pointed out each method of killing him before he could even draw his sword. "For one, your neck is exposed. It would be a simple matter to slit it. Then there's how your holding your shield too far to the side. It would be too easy to get a throwing knife into your heart. Plus your helmet leaves your chin open. Anyone with a knife or sword could stab you up under it before you could stop them."

He actually drew his sword as I spoke. Apparently he didn't like having the various ways to kill him pointed out. But everything I pointed out was true. And I didn't even mention the myriad spells I could use. Even without knowing much about knife work, which Gabriella had tutored me in a little more on our journey,

"Dear, I'm disappointed in you. I've taught you better than that." The pause seemed to say she disproved of my actions. At least until she continued. "You missed the fourth way. See how the backs of his knees are unprotected? Rake a knife or a sword across them, and he'll fall to his knees and won't be able to get up. Then it's quite a simple matter to kill him in a myriad of ways."

"You've made your point, but I'd advise you not to push your luck." The guard who had yet to draw his sword growled to us as he held his partner back from attacking us. "Go in and see the steward. Don't make any trouble, or you'll answer to us."

Gabriella pushed open the doors and I followed her inside. A few of the servants looked up from their tasks as our footsteps echoed around the hall, but went back to them when they saw that we weren't anyone important. I assumed that the man we were looking for was the one sitting at a small desk covered with paper next to the Jarl's empty throne.

"What is it you want? Running the Hold while Ulfric's away is no easy business, so speak up or leave me in peace." He didn't even look up from what he was writing.

"Canros sent us. We're here to help with catching the Butcher." He really did look up at that. If he was surprised that we were Dunmer, or that I seemed to be a child, he didn't show it.

"Yes, yes. Canros said that you'd come. Though with how long it took you a dozen more people have died, including a distant relative of mine." He pulled an official-looking document out of one of the drawers on his desk, and wrote quickly on it. When he finished, he handed it to Gabriella. "I'm authorizing lethal force against him. As long as you have this, the guard's won't interfere with what you do short of stealing or murder. Find him, kill him, and come back here. We've got a sizeable reward to go along with whatever Canros has promised you."

Gabriella put the note into one of her pockets, and then we stood there waiting.

"You're still here?" He asked after a few minutes. "Oh wait… I'm supposed to give you his notes too, aren't I? I've got them here somewhere…." He started digging around in the drawers.

"Aha, here you go." He tosses Gabriella a thick sheaf of papers. "I believe that's it. You can go now."

Gabriella looked over the first few pages of the notes as we left the Jarl's palace. I trailed along behind her, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"We should get a room at Candlehearth Hall. It'll take us the rest of the day to read through these."

* * *

Sure enough, it was dark outside by the time we got over the last of the notes. I'd somehow managed to nap on the horse on the way to the city, so I wasn't tired. When Gabriella went to sleep, I hit the streets and started searching.

As most of the victims had been Nords, I assumed that the killer was most likely one of the other races of man, or a mer. Canros hit hadn't seemed to think it was one of the Dunmer, as that had been where his investigations had started and had gone nowhere. Canros hadn't connected the dots, but I figured it was someone dabbling with necromancy. What he described as "An inelegant example of knifework and butchery." seemed to me more like someone harvesting body parts. Neither of my parents had been interested in necromancy, but our library did have books on the subject.

I'd hoped to perhaps get lucky by following the few young women I saw walking around, but no. This 'Butcher' didn't show his face. At least not near where I was. And with it dark, I had no idea which houses belonged to Nords and Dunmer, and which belonged to the various other races. I did find something that it would be interesting to look at tomorrow however. Not necessarily involving why we were here, but just the name "Calixto's House of Curiosities" made me curious as to what would be in there. I'd have broken in, but I had never been any good with lockpicks, and I didn't think it would be the best idea to bust the door down. Of course, there were always unlocking spells too, but I'd never learned any of those. Alteration wasn't my strongpoint, after all.

After a few fruitless hours of searching, I went back to the inn and, after checking for guards or passersby, floated up to the window I'd left open. Gabriella was fast asleep, her neck exposed and vulnerable. I could practically feel the warm, crimson lifeblood coursing through the veins and arteries under the bluish gray skin. But, having just fed yesterday, it was rather easy to ignore the temptation.

Before long, I drifted off to sleep even though I wasn't tired. Calming, soothing darkness overtook me and I knew nothing more until morning.

* * *

My nose twitched a few times as a deliciously familiar metallic scent came to my nostrils. I smiled while still half asleep, my thoughts immediately going to feeding, before I jolted awake and grabbed for Zantirus. We were in the inn; there was no good reason to be smelling blood here. My paranoia seemed to be just that; nothing was out of place. Our stuff was still where I remembered it, and Gabriella was still sleeping peacefully. But the smell of blood was fresh, and coming from in the room.

"Hey, Gabriella, wake up!" I hopped out of bed and changed into a different dress while she started groaning. Apparently she wasn't a morning person… and I usually wasn't either.

"Ugh… can't this wait? I feel worse than you do in the sun." Came her muffled reply as she tried burying her face in the pillow. I yanked the pillow away with a spell.

"We need to get a start on finding the Butcher." I shot back as she finally started to get out of the bed. "Also, do you have any idea why I smell blood from somewhere in here?"

"You smell blood?" Gabriella groaned again as she looked down and saw a red spot on the front of the dress she'd slept in. Had she been bleeding in her sleep? "Oh great… it just had to come now!"

"What just had to come?" I was curious now.

"Wait… you don't know?" When I nodded, Gabriella actually gave a wan smile and chuckled. "Well, you actually are childish in quite a few ways. You must have been turned long before you hit puberty, or you'd know that my moon-bleed started during the night."

"Moon-bleed?" I'd heard a few people mention that before during my travels, but never been quite sure what it was. And I still wasn't… but then again maybe I didn't want to know.

"Ummmm… I'm not explaining that to someone older than me. Just be glad you've never had to go through it." She yawned and then flinched for some reason. "I'll be awhile. Go on and find what you can, and meet back here around noon."

"Alright. I have a few theories that I want to check out. See ya soon!"

I went out the door this time after donning my cloak. No reason to be exposed to the burning sunlight when I didn't have to be, especially when it was cold enough to warrant travelers wearing cloaks like this.

I spent a few hours just wandering around the city, noting down in my mind which houses didn't belong to Nords or Dunmer. Worth investigating later if we couldn't find any other leads. I got bored of that after a while, and went into the Gray Quarter to look more. Since I was getting decidedly fewer hostile glares in this area, I started asking a few of the people I passed if they knew anyone that practiced magic. Surprisingly, they all answered that the only one they knew of was Wuunferth the Unliving, the court mage. I highly doubted that he'd be the murderer, so it appeared that whoever it was pursued magic in secret. Understandable, considering how hostile Nords seemed to be to mages.

From looking up at the sun I could tell it was nearly time to get back and meet Gabriella. I started back, and just before I got out of the Gray Quarter I asked one of the Dunmer I passed a question.

"Excuse me Sera, but do you happen to know anything about Calixto's House of Curiosities."

"Not much, except that it's a total sham. The charlatan that runs it came into town nearly three years ago with his sister, and bought that old house that he calls a museum. The sister died about a month later, and he turned their house into a trap for idiots. He's a rich Imperial oddball, nobody I know has seen him come out of there for weeks on end, and he could definitely afford to get real stuff, but everything he has in there's fake. I wouldn't waste your gold on it." The merchant I'd stopped explained.

"Thank you Sera. Ancestor's guide you." I nodded to him, and after returning the polite words he went on his way.

Gabriella was sitting at a table in the inn when I came in, and she motioned for me to join her. To keep up appearances, I grabbed one of the bread slices she had to sop up her stew and started nibbling on it. Not near as good as blood, but it wasn't bad. Sure, it wouldn't actually do anything for me and always got stuck on my fangs, but it didn't hurt vampires to eat normal food. Just sped up our normally infrequent need to relieve ourselves.

"Didn't find any leads. What about you?" As Gabriella spoke I couldn't help but notice that the smell of blood was still there, even though it was fainter.

"I'm willing to bet that you didn't even try to find anything out, what with this being my contract and all." I poked my tongue out at her childishly before going on to explain the conclusions I'd come to after my searching last night and today.

"Quite the little investigator, aren't you? We could almost make it as actual bounty hunters if you keep up like this."

"Nah, I like being an assassin so far. Bounty hunters don't get to kill people nearly as often, or drain them." I grinned at the Dunmer across the table. "Anyway, there's something I want to do before we start checking out some of the things I saw. Probably has nothing to do with the contract, but you never know."

"I'm assuming it's not something you can do yourself then?"

"Maybe, not sure though. I saw a place called 'Calixto's House of Curiosities' over by the Gray Quarter. I asked a local about it, and he said the owner's a rich Imperial oddball named Calixto. I doubt there's any way he'd be the killer, even though the man mentioned that Calixto had lost a sister like the killer has, but it would be interesting to see what's in there, even if most of it's fake."

"Well, I'm done here and I already paid for the food, so let's go."

I dragged her through the streets by one hand, looking for all the world like an excited little girl dragging her mother off to see something. And really, that wasn't too far from the truth. I was just curious as to what this Calixto had.

The door was unlocked when we got there, and a middle-aged imperial looked up from a table where he was writing. He rushed to get what seemed to be a journal out of sight, before turning to welcome us with a smile.

"Ah, I assume that you two are here to see my collection? For such a lovely family… two Septims." He took the coins when Gabriella proffered them, and then waved for us to follow him through one of the doors and into the back rooms. He pointed out various objects, most of which looked ordinary and didn't stand up to their names. A few, however, I could see odd enchantments on. Several of the things weren't historical items at all, but rare alchemical ingredients from all over Tamriel.

I was actually enjoying the tour. Calixto was rather odd, admittedly, but he wasn't that bad. He actually knew much of what he was talking about, and when he didn't know anything he made up rather funny stories about it. Like how he'd once put fire salts in his soup instead of normal salt, and ended up with a brew so spicy that he couldn't talk for a week after drinking it. Sometime after the first fifteen minutes, Gabriela had slipped away. The Imperial didn't seem to notice, and I didn't really care.

She was back by the end of it, which was a rather funny story about how he got the giant's toes when the thing tripped over him and smashed its head on a rock.

"This was a truly fascinating tour, well worth what it cost. Unfortunately, we have to be going now." Gabriella smiled at him, and then dragged me out the door even as I protested. I'd wanted to spend more time talking to Calixto, who'd travelled for more than I had.

"What was that about? I was having fun!" I demanded once she had pulled me all the way to our room at the inn. Her only response was to toss a slim book at me. I recognized it as the journal Calixto had been writing in.

After skimming through the contents, my eyes widened. I looked up at Gabriella.

"Well, that was quicker than I thought."

"Seems I'll be feeding well tonight." My lips slowly curled up into a grin that just barely revealed my fangs.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ugh… my mind is fried right now. **

**Anyway, I know I changed a few things. Like the Butcher's journals are all in one, and Calixto's museum is quite a bit larger. But, not long till I get into the fun plot arcs.**


End file.
